Financial services

George Osborne has confirmed UK banks will be forced to ‘ringfence' retail banking operations to protect savers from risks taken in investment banking arms.

Mervyn King has claimed low capital requirements and inadequate limits on leverage have been the most "tragic" aspects of financial regulation.

The FSA has stressed its preference for product intervention as an "essential" means of achieving consumer protection.

The FSA will be able to authorise tax-transparent funds by the summer of 2012 after the government moved to introduce the products through secondary legislation.

The Investment Management Association (IMA) has called for an independent review into the collapse of Keydata and other investment firms and said the scale of recent failures has not been seen since the Barlow Clowes scandal of the 1980s.

Goldman Sachs has received a subpoena from New York prosecutors seeking information on the investment bank's role leading into the global financial crisis, according to reports.

The FSA's platform policy paper has been delayed to Q3 as the regulator struggles to formulate final rules on controversial areas including the proposal to ban cash rebates.

Three of Ireland's lenders could impose losses of up to 90% on bondholders under plans to see them help pay for the recapitilisation of the country's banking system.

Financial regulators in Europe have called on the Obama administration to speed up reform of its banking regulations to prevent the world's largest economy gaining an unfair advantage over counterparts.

Fund managers, IFAs and investors could be hit with huge costs after the US Senate passed laws forcing millions of people in funds holding US assets to make a declaration to the American tax authorities.