George Osborne today unveiled new powers for a Chancellor to take charge in the event of a banking meltdown.
In a speech to business leaders, he said legislation would make clear where the buck stopped if public funds were at risk.
"Independent central banks should not be put under pressure to do what governments do not have the courage to do on their own account," he told the world economic forum in Davos, Switzerland. "There will be no ambiguity about who is in charge."
The power is contained in laws published today that will clear the tripartite system of City regulation established by Gordon Brown.
Mr Osborne said the structure had been exposed as "incoherent" and failed when banks needed help in 2007 and 2008.
He added that for the first time the Chancellor would be able "to direct specific liquidity interventions to assist individual entities, the Special Resolution Regime for banks, and general interventions to preserve stability"
