U.K. to Give Regulators Powers to Split Up Banks

From the WSJ: U.K. Treasury chief George Osborne announced new powers for regulators to split up banks that flout rules designed to ring-fence retail banking from riskier investment-banking activity.

In a wide-ranging speech on banking in Bournemouth, England, Mr. Osborne is expected to say the new powers are needed so that taxpayers will never again be on the hook when banks fail, as they were during the financial crisis….

News that the regulators will be handed the additional reserve powers comes after the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards in December concluded that the government's draft legislation on the ring-fence didn't go far enough and that ultimately more drastic action may be needed to ensure the stability of the financial system….

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