Lloyds, HSBC, Barclays and NatWest could all be wound down without government intervention in the case they failed, the Bank of England revealed in its "resolvability" check of lenders.
Britain's top eight lenders would be able to 'resolve' or wind down in the face of the collapse without causing the financial system to be destabilised, indicating an improvement in the bank's measures from their actions in the lead-up to the 2008 financial crisis.
"Our assessment gives further reassurance that if a major UK bank were to fail today it could enter resolution safely: remaining open and continuing to provide vital banking services, with shareholders and investors – not public funds – first in line to bear the costs of failure," the BoE said in a statement.
Looking at the banks, which also include Santander UK, Standard Chartered, Virgin Money UK and Nationwide, the UK's central bank said there were some "shortcomings" and that some areas needed improvement, however, none were serious enough to cause wider issues should it collapse.
Despite the current safety in the banks' measures, experts at the BoE believe the lenders will need to be monitored going forward.
"Resolvability will never be ‘done’ and there will always be lessons to learn from putting the regime into practice," BoE Deputy Governor Dave Ramsden said in a statement.