Labour plans bank competition shake-up in 2015 but Carney casts doubts

Labour will refer high street banks to the competition authorities if it is elected in 2015, Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, is expected to say in a speech on Friday.

The aim is to have the review by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) complete within a year of the election, in the expectation that this could lead to a breakup of the larger high street banks, the Guardian reports. It is hoped that this would provide a clear market structure to support better competition for customers and to address obstacles in the way of allowing new players to break into the market. Labour also hopes it will help prompt a greater emphasis on German-style regional banking. But the party would not indicate whether it had a specific cap on the size of a r...