Little over two weeks before the Independent Commission on Banking is due to release its preliminary findings, Douglas Flint, chairman of HSBC, stated that uncertainty about the future of banking in the UK could lead to a loss of business to rivals.

Flint argued that possible restructuring of the UK banking industry could force banks who are doing long-term swaps or credit arrangements to seek a new hub which could guarantee that in 10 or 15 years the structure for doing such deals would be the same.

Both HSBC and Barclays have recently been suspected of planning to move their headquarters abroad. HSBC had to put out a statement claiming they were not going to move HQ to Hong Kong, whilst Barclays were advised by a UBS report that a shift in domicile would rebalance the discrepancy between how shareholder's dividends are increasingly influenced by domestic regulators but staff compensations are internationally compared.

Meanwhile Stephen Hester, chief executive of RBS, said that bank performance is being held back by regulatory fears. Coupled with George Osborne's increased banking levy, the imminent Independent Report has clearly spooked the industry, making its future in the UK uncertain.