Mervyn King has said he backs calls for radical reform of the global banking sector, adding that while major change was needed, it should not be rushed because of the risk it might harm the wider economy.

Speaking recently to the House of Commons Treasury Committee, Mr King said it was reform that was required, not limits on a bank's size.

He said a situation was needed where taxpayers did not bail out any failing banks in the future. The plans - the most far-reaching yet proposed - include limits to the size of banks and restrictions on riskier trading.

Mr King also commented how he didn't think "anybody is either ahead or behind the curve, but what the proposals announced last week did, I think, was to make very clear that radical reform is on the table and that is the most important thing. These are very difficult questions... there are no simple answers," said the Bank of England governor, concluding: "The most important thing is that we are prepared to countenance major reform. We need to recognise a range of different solutions will be necessary. It won't be easy to bring about, and we can't do it overnight."

Mr King explained that one of the required core changes was for large investors to accept that their investments were at risk, and that taxpayers should not be expected to have to bail them out.

"Unless we actually think about the deep structure issues that have led us to where we are, we'd be doomed to go through it again, but on a larger scale," he said.