Britain’s banks will be forced to boost their capital and separate core operations from riskier trading and investment banking at an annual cost of up to £7bn ($11bn), under sweeping reforms announced on Monday.
The final recommendations of the Independent Commission on Banking, chaired by Sir John Vickers, call for a bank’s ringfenced operation to have its own board of directors and equity capital equivalent to 10 per cent of risk-weighted assets.
But in crucial concessions, the banks will be able to chose which non-core businesses to place inside the ringfence, with a deadline of 2019 to implement some of the toughest measures in the world.