Time running out for ‘Herculean’ UK bank ring-fencing task

Final rules needed by early 2016, say banks, or implementation deadline could be missed

Countdown: banks are pushing for clarity on ring-fencing rules; otherwise they may miss 2019 deadline

As major surgery goes, separating conjoined twins is one of the highest risk operations conceivable. When the twins share vital organs, the odds for both surviving without complication are very low, and surgeons must intricately plan every cut and stitch.

In the UK banking industry, similarly risky surgery is on the horizon. As part of plans to ring-fence the country's largest retail banks, regulators are hovering with their scalpels poised. The idea is to make sure a retail bank can live throug