UK bids to break hold of ‘Big Five’

It will take another five years or more to make real inroads into the dominance of Britain’s five biggest banks, a senior Bank of England official said yesterday.

Two years ago the government and regulators made it easier for new entrants to set up shop in attempt to loosen the chokehold of Lloyds, Barclays, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland and Santander UK, which provide about 85% of current accounts in Britain.

However, Martin Stewart, director for banks at the central bank’s supervisory arm, the Prudential Regulation Authority, said that a more diversified market will not emerge until 2020 at the earliest.