Bank reform authors to appear at UK standards inquiry

LONDON (Reuters) - British parliamentarians will quiz two of the authors of reports proposing big changes in the structure of Europe's banks in the next two weeks as they step up an inquiry into standards at British banks.

Erkki Liikanen, the governor of the Bank of Finland who this month said EU banks should separate deposit-taking businesses from higher-risk activities, will appear at Britain's Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards next Monday.

Martin Taylor, one of the authors of this year's Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) report that proposed changes in the structure of UK banks, will appear on October 31.

They will follow Paul Volcker, the former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman, who appears before the parliamentarians at 0200 pm on Wednesday.

Volcker and Liikanen will bring an international perspective to the inquiry, which was set up after a series of scandals at UK banks, including the manipulation of interest rates by Barclays Plc and the mis-selling of insurance policies to millions of customers by all big banks.

The inquiry is expected to call executives from all the top banks, along with regulators, consumer groups and other interest groups and make legislative proposals by December 18.

The parliamentarians, led by Andrew Tyrie, also said they will hear from Don Cruickshank, author of a report on competition in UK banking, on October 24.

Martin Wheatley, managing director of the Financial Services Authority and author of a recent review of Libor, will speak on October 25, and John Kay, an economist and author of a review of UK equity markets, will appear on October 29.

Liikanen's report is being assessed by European regulators and member states. He was asked by the European Commission for ideas on how to shield taxpayers from having to fund future bailouts while protecting savers.

That was also an objective of the ICB and most of its proposals are in the process of being implemented.

A proposal by Volcker to prevent U.S. banks from taking risky bets for their own gain has become known as the "Volcker rule" and is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

(Editing by David Holmes)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bank-reform-authors-appear-uk-standards-inquiry-125653672--finance.html

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