MANSION HOUSE: Osborne confirms 'ring-fencing' for banks

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

In his Mansion House speech last night, Osborne said the move was recommended by the ongoing Independent Commission on Banking that began in April and which aims to insulate High Street branches from trading activities. As the Chancellor of the Exchequer paid tribute to Sir John Vickers, who is heading up the Commission, he said: "The Independent Commission on Banking has put forward two particularly important proposals. "Bail-ins instead of bail-outs - so that private investors, not taxpayers, bear the losses if things go wrong, and a ring fence around better capitalised high street ...