Submissions to Vickers
BARCLAYS
Said a forced split would harm the stability of the system. “There is little empirical evidence to suggest that material structural change would enhance financial stability,” it said, warning that the UK economy would also suffer if the financial sector is curtailed.
RBS
RBS sought to quantify the benefits of the universal model, estimating that sharing back-office functions and funding sources across the group saved it £3.5bn-£4.8bn each year.
HSBC
The bank said it “does not believe that proprietary trading is a necessary part of a customerfocused universal bank”.
Said that its own investment banking activities are driven by what its clients need, such as legitimate hedging of risks, and says it would never seek to merely trade off its own book.
BRITISH BANKERS ASSOCIATION
Argues that splitting up the country’s banks would harm Britain’s role as a leading global financial centre and prove to be too costly to undertake.
NATIONWIDE
Said it would be better to ringfence banks’ retail deposits from their investment banking activities, forming separate subsidiaries for these different units, rather than a full split.
CITIGROUP
Citigroup cautioned the commission not to contribute to the UK falling too far out of step with the rest of the world in its financial reforms, urging it to instead help refocus the public debate on banking onto the UK’S long-term competitiveness.
LLOYDS BANKING GROUP
Submitted a 100-page response to the commission warning that inadequate regulation rather than the growing size of banks was responsible for the crisis. The bank supports the principle of living wills but disagrees with a “bail-in” or separating more risky operations.
SIR GEORGE MATHEWSON
The man behind RBS’s £20bn merger with NatWest called on regulators to split the banks and hive off RBS’s insurance business to make the bank more stable. He also said Lloyds should be forced to untangle itself from HBOS in the name of increasing competition in the sector.