The art of power English for Schadenfreude Correction: English wine Award: Anne McElvoy ReprintsThis week the shape of that change became clearer with the release of a report by the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB), which urged the government to impose a "ring-fence": a strict separation between the retail and investment-banking operations of Britain's banks.
In 2012 George Osborne, the chancellor of the exchequer, rejected a proposal from the government-appointed Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) for a 4% leverage ratio for the biggest banks, having previously warned against promoting the "stability of the graveyard".
The taxpayer will find it more difficult to recoup the £45bn ploughed into Royal Bank of Scotland to stop it collapsing after the 2008 banking crisis because of the changes proposed by the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB), leading analysts warned on Tuesday.
Diamond called for clarity on the wave of new bank regulations that will be implemented once the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) reports on 12 September.
The counter-argument, that big universal banks bring stability via diversification, was dealt with neatly by the ICB.
A final report is published by the ICB.
Osborne is likely to publish the long-awaited white paper on the Independent Commission on Banking's (ICB) proposals on the same day – 14 June – in a battle against time to fulfil his promise to legislate for the proposed overhaul during this parliament.
As he gave an update of the bank's strategy – which has led to 14,000 job cuts as he cuts costs to make the bank more efficient – Gulliver said the UK business would be subjected to his performance tests once it was known how the final details of the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) were implemented.
But the bank refused to be specific about how deeply the job axe would be wielded in the UK - where 700 roles were cut in June - and warned that no decision would be taken until the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) published its recommendations on 12 September.
Measures to make bank account switching easier should also be introduced to improve competition, says the ICB.
HSBC's chairman, Douglas Flint, would not specify what action the bank might make in response to the ICB but kept up his challenge to worldwide regulatory changes because of the impact they might have already on fragile developed economies.
