LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s big banks could be broken up after the country’s new competition watchdog said it plans to launch an 18-month investigation into services for small business customers and personal current accounts.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said on Friday there was a lack of competition among banks and proposals that lenders put forward to increase transparency and make it easier to switch did not go far enough to meet the needs of personal consumers or small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).
The CMA – which was formed as Britain’s new competition watchdog in April – can order structural remedies, such as breaking up banks considered too dominant, and behavioural remedies, such as improving information given to customers.
State-backed Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland are the biggest banks for both current accounts and SME banking, and are most at risk of being told to cut their market share, potentially by selling more branches.
“Our studies have found that despite some positive developments, significant competition concerns remain which mean that customers may not be getting consistently good service and value from their banks,” said Alex Chisholm, CMA chief executive.
Read more at Reuters
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