Lacking radicalism, bank reform proposals look like good news for banks and advisers

Officially, the Vickers report on UK banking reform was met with the cold shoulder by City lawyers last week but, in many ways, the initial proposals seemed an ideal outcome for banking advisers.

The Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) was set up by the coalition Government last year to examine reforms to reduce systemic risk in the banking system and "to investigate the complex issue of separating retail and investment banking in a sustainable way". Despite being billed as considering radical steps to tackle the excesses of banking, the ICB's initial recommendations were widely viewed as modest, leading the share price of a number of large UK banks to rise on the day of their announcement on 11 April.