Tag Archives: john vickers

The Independent View: The banking sector needs radical reform but too many cures will kill the patient

By Ben Norman | Mon 19th December 2011 - 6:58 pm

For seven days before Christmas it has been an incredibly busy day for the financial services sector. The Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Draft Financial Services Bill has produced its wide-ranging report into regulatory reform; the FSA has published its Mortgage Market Review consultation; and, last but not least, the Treasury has published the Government’s response to the Independent Commission on Banking.

At least the latter was well leaked – what isn’t these days? – and gave me time to think about the ICB.

The ICB is actually something quite amazing, not to mention something entirely Lib Dem.

Sir John Vickers was given …

Dick Newby writes… Banking – a Lib Dem win

By Dick Newby | Mon 12th September 2011 - 10:41 pm

As I write this, the top headline on the BBC online news reads Acclaim for Bank Shake-up Plan. The report states that there is broad support for the Vickers’ report’s proposals to separate domestic retail banking and global wholesale and investment banking operations. This support extends to the Chancellor and the Prime Minister.

What the BBC doesn’t point out is that this a complete victory for the Liberal Democrats – particularly Vince Cable. When the banking crisis broke , we quickly decided that we had to ensure that the state couldn’t be put in the position again where it …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged banking, featured, independent commission on banking and vince cable | 12 Comments

Monday: politicians and bankers learn their possible fates

By Mark Pack | Sun 11th September 2011 - 9:50 am

A quirk of the political calendar means Monday sees both politicians and bankers learn of their possible future fate. For English MPs it is when they get embargoed copies of the Parliamentary Boundary Commission’s draft proposals, which get published on Tuesday. Monday is also the day when the Vickers Commission publishes its banking reform recommendations.

There is a widespread expectation in Whitehall that the Vickers Commission will recommend isolating retail banking from other banking activities, but without demanding that companies be split up. Internal firewalls and the like will be demanded instead.

It is also widely expected that the Vickers Commission will …

Posted in News | Also tagged banking, independent commission on banking and vince cable | 3 Comments

Opinion: Vickers report on banking does not go far enough

By The Voice | Mon 18th April 2011 - 2:25 pm

Naomi Smith and Prateek Buch of the Social Liberal Forum write about the Vickers Commission on Banking…

At Lib Dem Spring conference in Sheffield last month, delegates overwhelmingly supported the Social Liberal Forum (SLF) motion Tougher Action on Banks and Bonuses. The interim report published recently by the Vickers Commission on Banking went some way to addressing the problems within the industry , but as we predicted in our speeches to the SLF motion, falls far short of Liberal Democrat policy which calls for:

A break up of banks deemed ‘too big to fail’ into smaller, safer

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged banking and independent commission on banking | 6 Comments

The Independent Banking Commission publishes its interim report

By The Voice | Mon 11th April 2011 - 6:23 pm

Via the BBC:

UK banks’ retail operations should be “ring-fenced” from their investment banking arms, the Independent Commission on Banking has recommended.

However, in its interim report the commission stopped short of recommending the two should operate as separate entities.

It said more competition was needed in retail banking, including the sell-off of more Lloyds branches.

The commission’s final recommendations will be published in September.

Robert Peston adds,

The big banks will claim that putting their retail banks into subsidiaries would impose significant extra costs on them – because it would force them to raise and retain more capital (which is expensive), and it

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Posted in News | Also tagged banking, independent commission on banking, matthew oakeshott and robert peston | 4 Comments

Independent Commission on Banking threatened mass resignation to make Osborne back-off

By Mark Pack | Tue 1st March 2011 - 7:34 pm

Matthew Oakeshott’s departure as a Liberal Democrat spokesman for criticising the ‘Project Merlin’ deal with the banks over bonuses and the like may have got the headlines, but the real story is revealed by Anthony Hilton in the Evening Standard – all the members of the Commission threatened to resign in protest at government interference with their work.

He writes:

The Government offered to emasculate the Independent Commission on Banking as it tried to strike a deal on bank bonuses a few weeks ago. I am told it backed off only when Sir John Vickers, chairman of the inquiry, and his entire committee, Clare

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