A bit busy these days, but couldn't help pausing to smile over the angst that the new capital strictures of Basel III are causing across various European jurisdictions - you know, the ones who are pretty sniffy about the laxity of 'Anglo-Saxon' financing practices. And yet somehow it is UK banks that already meet - nay, exceed - the primary new standard.'Twas almost exactly three years ago that the Schadenfreude 1 outbreak occurred at C@W, when two German regional banks were the first to go bust in the great Crisis. A bit unseemly I know, seeing what happened next at NR, RBS, HBOS etc etc.
Another thin smile is merited at the outbreak of: if you make us hold more capital, we won't be able to lend so much money. This is like the perennial traders' whinge: if you hold us to strict risk limits, we'll be forced to close out positions just when the markets are moving against us. In both cases the immediate answer is a dry - errr, Yes.
The longer answer is: OK, then we'll break up the banks ...
ND
PS - respec' to Pesto who is doing a cracking job at following all this
