What do you think of the proposed banking reforms?

The banking reforms will only work if the rich (and ONLY the rich) are allowed to be punished - if the banks are allowed to offload the cost of this fiasco onto their average earning customers (i.e. us!) then this will not end well. In essence, it would be yet another wealth transfer from the poor to the rich.

Less lending is actually the correct approach - it was ridiculous levels of lending that allowed house prices to creep to their current ludicrous level (relative to normal wages). In historic terms, the average house price in the UK should be around 60,000-80,000 pounds right now, not 130,000 or whatever stupid price it's at. Where I part company from the Tories is that I don't think that average people (on less than say 30,000 a year) should be asked to pay for the correction. Tax the rich.

I think your question is a matter of cost, no longer will some people have 'free' banking and good!

High street banks have been ripping off the poorest and most vulnerable in society for years, £35 for going a couple of quid over an overdraft, £35 for a bounced cheque, £35 for a cancelled DD..... it is a spiralling downwards circle for the poorest. £70 quid this month, a bit more next month as more DD's fail so lets say £140 charges, more the next month and all of a sudden they are paying a couple of hundred quid in charges........

Free banks dont apply to the poor - never have and never will, the poor are only expected to bailout the bankers to several billions..... how bizarre the banks owe their customers more than the customers owe them and all of a sudden they are charged stupid amounts of money for going a couple of quid overdrawn.

Thats where banking reforms should start, the labour party buried the issue, the tories wont do anything about it.

These banking reforms dont go far enough or quick enough

In principle its a good idea and should be implemented - but it won't happen - just a 'watered-down-version' to please the public and keep these banks/bankers happy.

Anything suggested to 'up-set' a cartel type companies profit (banking/insurance/supermarkets etc) will be explained away by them - that prices will rise or they will become more selective depending on their type of business - no matter those prices are already rising in all spheres of this cartel operated attitude throughout this country with these companies.

Once a politician says they are 'looking into' something - the public 'think' action will be taken - not true - it gets put on the back-burner or watered down or conveniently forgotten - the government being remembered for them (supposedly) 'dealing' with the issue - when no such thing happened at all.

Don't hold your breath on this issue....its all political....huffing and puffing - nothing more.!!

I'm all for the banking reforms and think they should be brought as soon as possible, the government is shirking their responsibilities by not bringing them in until 2019. I would sooner pay a little more for safer banking than have to go through again what we are going through now. If the bankers are bleating about it then it probably means it's a good thing for us, but maybe not so good for them. They know if or when the banking reforms come in, should their casino banks fail then they will be left to collapse. I don't think it will end up costing those that use banks a lot more as there will be competition and if a bank gets to greedy then customers will take their business elsewhere. I believe the bankers, as Vince Cable said, are just scaremongering and the government should take no notice and just get on with the reforms. I don't think there is much chance though as the banks literally bankroll the Tory Party.

The banks would rather carry on as they were where they can gamble people's savings on whatever they like and if they get into trouble they know the taxpayer will help them out. Shame for them that the electorate don't like that idea.

There won't be less or more expensive lending, they'll lend just like building societies used to before deregulation, they'll take our savings at a rate of 3% then lend that money at a rate of 5%, simple.

Splitting the retail arm from the 'investment' arm means that the retail arm is infinitely less likely to get into trouble and need our help. The 'investment' arm however, well if they get into trouble then sod 'em we won't need to bail them out.

'Ring fencing' will work in my opinion.In fact I was falsely under the impression that private finance was free from being risked by commercial ventures and 'derivatives' which are so complicated even the banksters did not understand them. Also 'fiscal easing' should be used to finance industry and not used to buy government bonds .

The Euro and the 'cross subsidisation ' between EU countries should never again be allowed to enable a weak country to bring down the Euro. In fact the Euro should be either scrapped and a return to DM and Franks etc or the EU should stop pretending all European countries have the strength of Germany or France.Spending should reflect the strength of each separate country and we should stop pretending 1000 Greeks = 1000 Germans.

I'm going to buck the trend and say that I'm quite happy.

I might argue the process could do with speeding up a bit, but 7 years is just the length of time it takes anything to happen in this country. (It took DHL 2 weeks to deliver me a sodding laptop).

I'm not going to pretend to understand all the facets of the reforms, and to be honest I haven't the patience to even try, but listening to interviews with people who seem to be in the know on the news today, it seems that bodies representing "Joe Public" seem to be happy, bodies representing the banks seem to be happy (or, at least, not as unhappy as they had expected to be), and the politicians are as usual either very happy or incandescent with rage. Bollocks to them.

If everyone's happy with the reforms, of course people are going to complain. The reforms, for many, are less about creating a stable, sustainable banking sector for the decades to come, and more about 'punishing those banker bastards who did this to us.'

But personally, I think they're reforms, not a hate campaign, and I refuse to be drawn into this bent idea that primarily Labour and the BBC have come up with, and to which the mainstream left now subscribes, where banks have been labelled responsible for all society's ills, with Labour as judge, jury and executioner, and therefore they must be hung out to dry.

They're businesses responsible for a large part of the flow of capital around the economy, and as such they need to be regulated in such a way that they can do this safely and without risk to the economy as a whole. These reforms, if the experts are to believed, will do that, so I'm happy.

Verbally bash the bankers as much as you want - the moment it becomes economic policy is when we know we're in the brown.

Utterly comic and evidence the CBI and the British Wankers' Association more or less succeeded in their lobbying efforts. The banks are in absolute heaven. You get a Labour government to bail you out of sh*t creek and a Tory government elected in time to resume business as usual. Oh and cluster bombs are a booming business. Get in there RBS. 83% courtesy of the taxpayer. THANK YOU BRITAIN!!!

Instead of pouring good money after bad, the government should setup a national bank owned by the people of Britain, and deposits (bank accounts) with matching good assets be transferred to it from the toxic banks. Failed bank bosses should be fired under new laws, their salaries and bonuses paid by loss making banks confiscated. No directors salaries or bonus may be paid until authorised by shareholders, one shareholder one vote, to stop their pals with institutional block votes continuing the corruption.

Set up a national bank. Stop giving money to failed banks; stop the corruption

My favorite part is the change to the overdraft charges. Before they had the right to order the days debits in what ever way they wanted.. usually largest to smallest, giving them the ability to charge$35 for the $1.07 soda you bought at the store.. Now if you account says you have money and you buy a soda.. $1.07.. awesome common sense.