Drastic times

There is a growing consensus that large, global banking groups pose a threat to financial stability. Some have suggested large financial services groups be split up to focus on traditional markets and banking business - but is this the answer? By Duncan Wood

Thirty-five years ago, the US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against what was then the only telephone company in the country, AT&T, setting in motion a long legal struggle that concluded eight years later with the monopoly being broken into pieces. It might seem far-fetched to suggest a similar fate could lie in store for the world's biggest banks, but one senior regulator in the UK believes that's exactly what some of his colleagues want to do.

He points to the G-30 report on reform of