Monday 24 May 2010

Banks warn that higher capital ratios could push Britain back into recession

The Guardian writes: Bankers set themselves on a collision course with the new coalition government today by insisting that their firms should not be broken up as a result of bank reform.  In a warning to governments around the world, the bankers also revealed they were preparing research to show that proposals to force them to hold more capital would have a 'significant impact' on the global economic recovery.

Standard Chartered's chief executive, Peter Sands

The coalition government has pledged to set up a commission that will spend a year to look at ways to break up banks but Peter Sands, chief executive of Standard Chartered, said that setting limits on the 'size and scope' of banks 'simply won't work'. Presenting papers produced by the Institute of International Finance, a banking industry lobby group that represents about 390 banks and insurers, Sands called for the G20 to establish a taskforce to look at ways to reach international agreement on how to deal with failing companies.

Read the full Guardian article here.