Today’s publication of the Independent Commission on Banking's (ICB) interim report, chaired by Sir John Vickers, has enjoyed a mixed response from the financial community, with the Chancellor calling the recommendations “excellent”, with others suggesting they are “disappointing”.

However whether or not these measures are adopted by the Government and the banks will depend on the health of the wider financial services sector. So what do the facts say on this score?

The Today programme presenter Evan Davis has suggested, for example, that the Commission’s proposal to ringfence retail and investment banking operations may damage the profitability of the sector. But just how important financial services are to the UK economy has been a matter of some debate.

Whilst the Daily Telegraph has claimed that the City generates 14 per cent of the UK’s entire GDP, RBS chief executive Stephen Hester has argued that “it is a myth to believe that banking dominates the UK economy.” When we looked at the figures, we found that the truth was some way between these two positions: financial services accounted for around 8 per cent of GDP, a significant slice, albeit some way short of the Telegraph’s estimate.

Similarly the amount that the sector contributes in taxes has suffered from some misinformation. Former City Minister Lord Digby Jones has claimed that financial services accounted for up to 24 per cent of the Government’s total tax take. Based on Full Fact’s research, it seems a fairer estimate may be around the 11 per cent mark.

When it comes to how effectively banks are doing their jobs, Full Fact has uncovered a mixed picture. When we factchecked Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls’ claim that mortgage lending was at a 20 year low, we found that it was broadly accurate, although that particular threshold was crossed last July. However we also found that there had only been a small reduction in lending to small businesses since the recession began, despite protests that they were failing to lend enough (although the picture is complicated by some of the possible reasons for the reduced demand for loans).

Full Fact will of course be keeping an eye on the reporting of today’s announcement by the ICB. However if you spot any claims that merit closer inspection, then do let us know by suggesting a factcheck.