Mr. Aidan Carrigan:

The Chairman is correct to draw attention to that. It is a further element of the bank restructuring debate at European level. It is not as developed as the banking union proposals that I outlined in my presentation, but the debate is live. The Liikanen report has considered the structural issues associated with banks. In the United Kingdom, there is the Vickers report, and the United States has a similar one. Each of the reports has come up with slightly varying solutions. The United Kingdom is focusing more on structural separation. The Liikanen report examines the idea of making provision for different capital requirements depending on the risks of the various elements of the institution. All of these approaches are being considered by the European Commission. It is the intention of the European Commission, in the summer or shortly thereafter, to bring forward a specific proposal for legislation to deal with the structural issues associated with large financial institutions. It is not clear as yet whether the European Commission will opt for complete structural separation or different treatments within existing structures. There are consultation groups examining the matter. It is not clear yet what elements will need to be separated. In advance of determining this, we have been engaging in discussions on the matter, but we have not developed any clear policy ourselves because we anticipate that a clear policy will emerge from Europe in the coming weeks.