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