The banking industry has been put on notice that some very big changes are likely to be coming its way.

The Independent Commission on Banking - which was set up by the government in 2010 - has published its preliminary ideas for further consultation.

Its aim, it says, is to make the UK banking system safer.
If seen through, the initial ideas could have a very big impact on day-to-day banking.

What are the commission's recommendations all about?
The commission is trying to address several related issues: how to protect High Street banking operations if a bank collapses; how to make huge banking losses fall on the bank's investors and not on tax-payers via a publicly funded bail-out; and how to introduce some more competition for basic banking services.

How does it plan to achieve this?
The biggest idea is ring-fencing.
The idea is that the High Street retail banking operations of the biggest banks should be placed in distinct subsidiaries.

The retail bank businesses should have their own financial cushions in case something goes wrong with the rest of a bank's operations, such as at its investment bank business.

This is the basic plan for protecting ordinary account holders and making it easier to sort out a bank if it goes bust or is in danger of doing so.
This would not be a complete obstacle to a banking insolvency.
But it would make it easier for the branches to be kept open and for the tills to keep dispensing money while an insolvent bank was.....

Read MORE Q&A Here