The evolution of bank-based financial system in the United Kingdom

Abstract

This paper gives an overview of the banking sector in the U.K.; it highlights the reforms since the second half of the 20th Century; it tracks the growth of the banking sector in response to the reforms implemented over the past seven decades; and finally, it highlights the challenges facing the banking sector in the U.K. The country's banking sector consists of more than 340 commercial banks, with the Bank of England, which is the economy's central bank, at the apex. Since the 1970s, the U.K. government has implemented a number of banking sector reforms - in order to safeguard and improve the banking sector. The response to these reforms, by the banking sector, has been varied. As a result of these reforms, there has been an increase in the activity of foreign banks as the financial sector was regulated. There has also been an improvement in the Central Bank's oversight of the financial institutions, and an enforcement of the banks' capital-adequacy requirements. By any standard, the U.K. currently has one of the most developed banking systems in world. The country has enjoyed a substantial bank-based financial sector development over the years, and its institutional framework has also grown stronger. However, like any other financial system, the U.K. banking system still faces wide-ranging challenges, such as less than adequate disclosure standards, contagion risk from the euro zone, squeezed interest margin and uncertainties caused by changes in regulatory regimes.