US officials will fly to London next week to discuss with ministers how sweeping changes to the banking system outlined by Barack Obama to fight Wall Street's excesses might be implemented in the City.

Top Wall Street banks are to face tough limits on their size and will be ordered to dismantle lucrative chunks of their business after the US president responded to a series of political setbacks by turning his fire on a "binge of irresponsibility" by financiers.

Just a day after his administration suffered a disastrous defeat in a key Senate byelection, Obama shocked the financial industry by announcing that he intended to prohibit some of the banks' most lucrative, yet speculative, activities.

Britain's City minister, Lord Myners, will talk to US officials on Monday as part of a meeting with G7 countries to discuss ways to impose a financial levy on a banking system that has already bounced back to profit barely a year after a multibillion-pound taxpayer bailout.

A spokesman for the British Treasury said: "We will consider the proposals very carefully. Countries around the world are rightly taking measures to increase stability and reduce risk in the financial system."

The meeting with Myners and G7 officials had already been arranged, but is now expected to focus on the US moves, although there is no certainty that the UK will be able to follow immediately.

The shadow chancellor, George Osborne, indicated this morning that the Tories would only take similar action to Obama as part of a concerted international move, not unilaterally.

"I am committed to getting international agreement on these things," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

The full story available from here : UK considers Barack Obama-style banking revolution | Politics | guardian.co.uk

Perhaps surprisingly I do think this move could be a very beneficial one as long as it's carried out properly, and therein lies the problem. Banks, in particular those which have day to day dealings with the general public, should stick to their core services of deposit taking, borrowing and lending. The 'riskier' side of international finance should be conducted by legally separate offshoots, and anyone, private or corporate investors, even those further down the line in the investment chain, should be notified that a company further back up in their investment is trading in what are perceived as riskier than usual transactions. That way at least the general public and business world would have their day to day banking safe, and anyone else would be able to judge for themselves whether or not they wanted to invest in 'riskier' transactions where the potential rewards are higher.

One of the few areas where I feel correctly applied and administered government intervention and regulation is necessary.