document: Concern over competition in banking Lloyds Banking Group 's '' `` powerful '' '' position in the retail banking sector could be damaging competition in the UK , MPs have warned . The part-nationalised bank 's market share in some retail segments is almost double that of its nearest competitor , but there has been no assessment of the impact its standing has had on competition , according to a report from the Treasury Select Committee . The Commons committee added that the European Union-imposed sale of 600 Lloyds branches may not be enough to address competition concerns , and said a public interest test based on competition should apply to the divestment and future sell-offs . The committee 's report , which concluded that competition in the sector is not working , comes ahead of the keenly awaited spring report from the Independent Commission on Banking -LRB- ICB -RRB- , due on April 11 . The ICB is believed to be drawing up a radical approach to reforming the industry , which could include a recommendation to split banks between investment and retail arms . It has also been looking at a potential break-up of Lloyds following its rescue takeover of HBOS , which was rushed through at the height of the financial crisis . The Treasury Select Committee took evidence from a wide range of banking industry figures including former Lloyds chief executive Eric Daniels , Barclays boss Bob Diamond and Royal Bank of Scotland head Stephen Hester . The committee 's report also claimed the sale of more than 300 Royal Bank of Scotland branches to rival Santander was a missed opportunity to inject more competition into the retail banking sector . The committee also found a lack of price transparency in the current account market as well as difficulty in switching accounts , with committee chairman Andrew Tyrie saying : '' `` For competition to be effective , customers need to know what they are buying , how much they are paying and to be able to transfer their custom from one provider to another without risk . '' '' He added : '' `` The chief executives of the large incumbents told the committee UK retail banking was enormously competitive , but a far larger range of witnesses described the industry as close to an oligopoly . '' `` We also received much evidence about low levels of consumer satisfaction and poor treatment of consumers by the major banks . We could not but conclude from this that competition in the UK retail banking market is not strong enough . '' ''
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