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

Osborne is due to deliver an important speech this week, to leading figures in the financial business in Britain. In it commentators widely believe he will outline the structure of future financial sector regulation.

Osborne is expected to increase the regulatory powers of the central bank, the Bank of England (BoE), over the financial sector while at the same time downgrading the powers of the current major regulatory body the Financial Services Authority.

There was speculation after the election that the Financial Services Authority would disappear altogether, but the chancellor is now expected to restrict its role and put it under the oversight of the BoE.

A separate commission, containing members of parliament but not sanctioned by the government, delivered a report on Sunday into the financial sector.

The commission was undertaken by the consumer magazine Which? and its panel contained Cable.

The Future of Banking Commission (FBC) recommended a clampdown on bankers' bonuses and a ban on bonuses related to sales. It also recommended that bankers undergo formal training and that their profession is regulated by a body with powers to stop them from working if they break the rules.

The FBC also recommends that the activities of banks be split up, to protect the savings and loans elements from the speculative investment activities. So-called 'safe haven' banking accounts for ordinary people should also be set up, where investors' money would not be used for speculative ventures.

The FBC's recommendations will be delivered to the Treasury, and stand a good chance of being incorporated in future banking legislation.

The MP and former Conservative shadow Cabinet minister David Davis chaired the commission. He said in a TV interview on Sunday, "Banks provide a vital service to the economy, without which no modern nation can survive or prosper. Nevertheless, fatal flaws in the structure, regulation and behavior of the banks almost crippled the world economy in the past few years.

"The United Kingdom cannot afford to face such a crisis again. Nor can it afford to allow the fundamental weaknesses in its banking system to go on, precisely because the economy depends so much on an effective and efficient financial system."

The effects of the global financial crisis hit the British economy especially hard, since the financial sector is a strong part of the economy.

The then Labor government had to bail out several banks through 2008 and 2009, including buying the whole of the Northern Rock bank and becoming majority shareholders in the Royal Bank of Scotland and a significant minority shareholder in Lloyds Group.