This is not a bad idea and it's a pity that we haven't seen the same in the US. The banking world removed these lines during the Clinton/GOP bank reform in the 1990s and while it allowed the banks to use the retail cash to help extend their gambling, it didn't work out very well since the debts were that much larger. If they're too big to fail, they're too big.
George Osborne is to give government backing to plans that will force banks to ring-fence their high street operations in an attempt to minimise the risks of a second financial crisis.
The chancellor will use his annual Mansion House speech to lambast the system of City regulation inherited from Labour and will argue that putting invisible walls between the investment and high street arms of Britain's big banks will make it unlikely they will ever need another taxpayer bailout.
Amid mounting speculation in the City that the Treasury is about to announce plans to sell off Northern Rock, Osborne will say he intends to endorse proposals by the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB), chaired by Sir John Vickers.
