The Financial Supervision Commission is to look into the regulatory requirements applying to deposit-taking subsidiaries in the Isle of Man.

In a written reply to a Tynwald question from Onchan MHK Peter Karran, Treasury Minister Allan Bell accepts that if banks in the Island were required to completely 'ring-fence' deposits from their parent companies it might not make sense for them to have a local presence.

He adds the challenge is to see how to increase the independence of local banking without compromising the valuable benefit they usually gain from having a strong parent.

Mr Bell will update Tynwald next month, but expects the review by the FSC to take longer.