By Peter Griffiths
LONDON, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Britain's opposition Conservative Party backed President Barack Obama's plans for stricter rules on the finance sector on Thursday and said it may limit the size of banks if it wins an election due by June.
Conservative finance spokesman George Osborne said there was an emerging international consensus on forcing banks to separate their retail and proprietary divisions after Obama announced his proposals for stricter rules in Washington.
Osborne is expected to become the next finance minister if his centre-right party beats Prime Minister Gordon Brown's ruling Labour in the election. Polls put the Conservatives about 10 percentage points ahead of Labour.
'This is a welcome move by President Obama that accords very much with our thinking,' Osborne said in a statement. 'I have said consistently that we should look at separating retail banking from activities like large-scale propriety trading and that this was best done internationally.'
With politicians from all sides keen to attract voters angry with bankers' pay and their role in the financial crisis, Osborne sought to portray his party as the main supporter of a stricter new system.
'He (Brown) now looks very isolated as a defender of the old model of finance that he presided over for years and that went so catastrophically wrong,' Osborne said.
The government has faced strong political and public pressure to take a firm line with banks. The country is emerging from a deep recession and is weighed down by a budget deficit, running at a record 178 billion pounds ($290.5 billion). It will top 12 percent of gross domestic product this year.
Britain holds large stakes in RBS and Lloyds Banking Group, created by the merger of banking groups Lloyds TSB and HBOS, following the banking crisis. It also owns Northern Rock bank after a rescue.
A British finance ministry spokesman said the government 'will study the proposals' and contact their U.S. counterparts.
Brown's financial services minister Paul Myners said Obama's proposals were in line with the British government's plans.
'(It) is very much in accordance with the direction that we have been setting, after all we were the first to introduce a tax on bonuses,' he told Channel 4 News. 'The policy objectives and intention are very, very similar.'
((For full coverage of the UK election, click on )) ($1=.6126 Pound) Keywords: BRITAIN BANKS/CONSERVATIVES (peter.griffiths@reuters.com; +44 207 542 7947; Reuters Messaging: peter.griffiths.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
LONDON, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Britain's opposition Conservative Party backed President Barack Obama's plans for stricter rules on the finance sector on Thursday and said it may limit the size of banks if it wins an election due by June.
Conservative finance spokesman George Osborne said there was an emerging international consensus on forcing banks to separate their retail and proprietary divisions after Obama announced his proposals for stricter rules in Washington.
Osborne is expected to become the next finance minister if his centre-right party beats Prime Minister Gordon Brown's ruling Labour in the election. Polls put the Conservatives about 10 percentage points ahead of Labour.
'This is a welcome move by President Obama that accords very much with our thinking,' Osborne said in a statement. 'I have said consistently that we should look at separating retail banking from activities like large-scale propriety trading and that this was best done internationally.'
With politicians from all sides keen to attract voters angry with bankers' pay and their role in the financial crisis, Osborne sought to portray his party as the main supporter of a stricter new system.
'He (Brown) now looks very isolated as a defender of the old model of finance that he presided over for years and that went so catastrophically wrong,' Osborne said.
The government has faced strong political and public pressure to take a firm line with banks. The country is emerging from a deep recession and is weighed down by a budget deficit, running at a record 178 billion pounds ($290.5 billion). It will top 12 percent of gross domestic product this year.
Britain holds large stakes in RBS and Lloyds Banking Group, created by the merger of banking groups Lloyds TSB and HBOS, following the banking crisis. It also owns Northern Rock bank after a rescue.
A British finance ministry spokesman said the government 'will study the proposals' and contact their U.S. counterparts.
Brown's financial services minister Paul Myners said Obama's proposals were in line with the British government's plans.
'(It) is very much in accordance with the direction that we have been setting, after all we were the first to introduce a tax on bonuses,' he told Channel 4 News. 'The policy objectives and intention are very, very similar.'
((For full coverage of the UK election, click on )) ($1=.6126 Pound) Keywords: BRITAIN BANKS/CONSERVATIVES (peter.griffiths@reuters.com; +44 207 542 7947; Reuters Messaging: peter.griffiths.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
© 2010 AFX News
