UK Bank Rules Architect Says SVB Rescue Punches Hole in System

The founding father of Britain’s current system of banking regulation has raised concerns about the exception granted to HSBC Holdings Plc when it rescued the UK arm of Silicon Valley Bank.

The comments from John Vickers – who led the government’s independent commission that proposed so-called ring-fencing in the UK – relate to rules forcing banks to separate their retail and investment banking activities put in place as one of the key lessons of the global financial crisis.

HSBC was given a waiver on some rules that stop complicated corporate customers being housed within ring-fenced banks. That concession from ...