The Minister of Finance has given a follow-up to the Second Chamber about the separation of retail banking and investment banking activities. In the follow-up he reports on key elements of the action plan on this subject. The Minister also discusses the American Volcker rule (prohibiting banks from trading for their own account) and the option of imposing additional capital requirements on banks. He compares the capital requirements for banks in the Netherlands with those applicable in Switzerland and the UK. It emerges that the Dutch capital requirements are stringent and are at a similar level to those applicable or proposed in Switzerland and the UK. In his conclusion, he advocates an arrangement comparable to the US Volcker rule, but expresses a preference for giving this a European basis.