By Yap Leng Kuen The Star online

The momentum has been set for the break-up of big investment banks.

UBS’ top officials have agreed to meet activist shareholder Knight Vinke to discuss demands to hive off its investment bank into a separate business.

JP Morgan chief Jamie Dimon is under pressure to surrender some of his power at the bank, after shareholder advisory group Glass Lewis called for his dual role as chairman and chief executive to be split, say reports in The Telegraph.

At the Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group, there is pressure for them to be split up into good and bad banks.

However, the government is ringfencing the deposits of individuals and businesses from the volatile investment banking business, reports say.

Barclays, another taxpayer-owned bank, has already shrunk its investment banking business to focus on retail banking.

The banking landscape is set to change with the shrinkage in the investment banking business, which, for some time, has been regarded as a high-risk business.

There will probably be crowding at the retail banking side, as many of these banks rush to build retail support.

Wealth management is another area with huge potential, provided the risks of investment are well-managed.

With new risk profiles and strategies, the industry can look forward to, hopefully, safer times where the banking business may seem duller and even basic.

It will be less exciting and stressful with reduced churning, especially in derivatives.

It is not just the players who have to tone down but the new landscape also requires a different kind of policing.

Investors themselves may find the new landscape too boring.

Low interest rates in Singapore are forcing investors to look beyond investment-grade bonds, it was reported in Singapore recently.

At least five small and medium-sized enterprises have completed local bond debuts since March, says the report.

It is a challenge to balance the needs and investment appetites of all investors.

Whichever path is taken, we must be mindful of the build-up of risks and credit bubbles.

The powerful shake-ups are not in banking alone but in the area of tax evasion as well.

The United Kingdom Treasury is working in collaboration with American and Australian tax authorities in the biggest ever cross-border tax evasion investigation, says The Guardian.

Data leaked by a whistleblower reveals complicated financial structures using companies and trusts stretching from Singapore and the British Virgin Islands to the Cayman Islands and the Cook Islands, says the report.

We cannot assume that as these are all international affairs, they would not impact us. Exercise care at all times, especially not to get involved in any part of this convoluted chain.

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