In the U.K., whose finance-heavy economy was one of the biggest casualties of the credit crunch, the Labour government has backed off from any separation of risk in large banks or caps on size.
Paul Myners, the U.K. Treasury's financial services minister, said Friday that the U.K. government won't be following the U.S. plan to reform banking.
"We're not going to separate investment banks from universal banks, retail banks," he said in an interview on BBC.
Changing this, European governments believe, makes an internationally binding agreement the only alternative to prevent competing banking policies between banking centers. London, for example, would be at a competitive disadvantage to Frankfurt or Zurich if the U.K. government followed the U.S. lead but the German and Swiss authorities didn't.
LONDON, WSJ: —European governments on Friday gave a mixed reaction to American President Barack Obama's initiative to restrict the activities of big U.S. banks, calling for an international agreement before they will commit to the same course. Mr. Obama on Thursday outlined a plan to prevent commercial banks and institutions that own banks from operating and investing in hedge funds and private-equity firms, while capping trading activity done for in-house accounts.
In the U.K., whose finance-heavy economy was one of the biggest casualties of the credit crunch, the Labour government has backed off from any separation of risk in large banks or caps on size.
Paul Myners, the U.K. Treasury's financial services minister, said Friday that the U.K. government won't be following the U.S. plan to reform banking.
"We're not going to separate investment banks from universal banks, retail banks," he said in an interview on BBC.
Sundrumify 2 years ago
Changing this, European governments believe, makes an internationally binding agreement the only alternative to prevent competing banking policies between banking centers. London, for example, would be at a competitive disadvantage to Frankfurt or Zurich if the U.K. government followed the U.S. lead but the German and Swiss authorities didn't.
Sundrumify 2 years ago
LONDON, WSJ: —European governments on Friday gave a mixed reaction to American President Barack Obama's initiative to restrict the activities of big U.S. banks, calling for an international agreement before they will commit to the same course. Mr. Obama on Thursday outlined a plan to prevent commercial banks and institutions that own banks from operating and investing in hedge funds and private-equity firms, while capping trading activity done for in-house accounts.
.... to be continued
Sundrumify 2 years ago