国际英语新闻：British government figure says banks likely to be split up

LONDON, June 13 (Xinhua) -- British new coalition government's business secretary has given a strong indication that there will be legislation to split banks into retail and invest arms, as a guard against a future financial crisis.

The business secretary Dr Vince Cable gave a TV interview on Sunday, in which he said that the "direction of travel" of government policy on banks was towards splitting them into their retail and investment arms.

The new coalition government, which has been in power for just over a month since the inconclusive general election on May 6, has set up a commission on the future of the banks which will report next year. Dr Cable is one of senior members of the coalition government's Cabinet and is a member of that commission.

He said "The coalition agreement is quite explicit -- the purpose of this commission is to look at the separation of retail and investment banking, that's the terms of reference."

"How we do that, over what time frame, whether you do that nationally or internationally, that kind of issue we have to pursue. But that is the clear direction in which we are going."

Tensions could arise over this approach, with the chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne being more explicit in his level of support for the banking sector, which both see as central to Britain's economy.

Osborne is from the majority party in the coalition, the center-right Conservatives, and Cable comes from the minority party, the center-left Liberal Democrats, and this key area of financial regulation could contain the seeds of deep-rooted arguments within the coalition.

Cable won a reputation over the financial crisis for his clear vision, and is credited with having warned against the factors that played a part in creating the crisis.