U.K. Bank Ring-Fencing Regime Is ‘Overly Rigid,’ Review Says (1)

The U.K.’s ring-fencing regime is “overly rigid” but hasn’t distorted competition in the retail banking market, according to the preliminary conclusions of a review into the rules introduced in the wake of the financial crisis.

The update on the study led by Keith Skeoch, the former chief executive officer of abrdn Plc, identified some issues with the regulations but largely endorsed the rules that require big banks with deposits of 25 billion pounds ($34 billion) or more to ring-fence their retail operations. That means affected banks can’t use the funds in riskier investment bank and trading arms.

“The current ...