It is with some relish I see Mervyn King agreeing with me from last February.

King calls for break-up of banks | FT – Oct 2009

Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, called on Tuesday night for banks to be split into separate utility companies and risky ventures, saying it was “a delusion” to think tougher regulation would prevent future financial crises.

The Great Unwinding | part 1 of 3: 2009 – 2012 | The Bankwatch – Feb 2009

This will effectively split the financial community into two distinct sets:

1. financial utilities – significant operating restrictions in light of implicit and explicit government guarantees underpinning the business
2. risk takers – not clearly defined as yet – will be dependent on regulation applicability

I expect my commission cheque is in the mail.

Full Text of King speech at in Edinburgh on 20 October 2009: speech406 pdf

Edit:  King provides attribution to John Kay here written Sept 09.