Regulating UK banks – the role of capital rules

Economist.com: Regulating banks – Capital rules now seem the only way to tame the banks. They will need to be tighter than in the past.

“Lenders are run for private benefit, but taxpayers underwrite them if things go wrong. Yet the scale of support that has been extended in the current financial crisis is unprecedented: the entire system has been explicitly guaranteed. Even as unemployment soars, bankers are talking again of big bonuses and a war for talent. The woeful legacy of the crisis could be a supersized banking system gorging on the taxpayers tab. Regulators want to prevent this, and their tool of choice now seems to be tighter capital-adequacy rules. This week Britain announced reforms that put a strong emphasis on capital (see article), and other countries are expected to do the same in the coming months. Even though banks have often found their way round such rules in the past, this approach probably makes sense for two reasons.”

Regulating UK banks – the role of capital rules

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