Daily View: Reactions to banking reforms report
Commentators discuss Sir John Vickers' banking reforms report.
arguing the he has ignored all the "sound and fury" in favour of some sane suggestions:
"The main question the commission was asked to address - whether banks combining retail and investment banking arms should be split up - is in reality a sideshow to the main regulatory drama. It is hardly a coincidence that no other country seems worried about this issue...
Ìý
"On the question of whether the likes of Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland should be broken up, the commission has decided against a complete separation, much to the relief of the banks, whose share prices jumped. The commission rightly concluded that the costs of such a move would outweigh the benefits. But to lessen the risks that problems in an investment banking arm could force the Government to bail out its retail bank, the commission proposes that the two sides should have separate buffers of capital to absorb losses...
Ìý
"Much more significant is the commission's suggestion that the retail arms should have to hold capital equivalent to at least 10 per cent of their assets. This is considerably more than the recently increased international standard of 7 per cent..."
the government should show leadership by splitting the banks up and "making sure they can never hold us to ransom ever again":
"There are two main proposals contained within the Commission's report. First, banks will in future have to maintain a capital base of at least 10 per cent, and secondly the retail parts of the big banks will have to be 'ring-fenced' from their investment arms. Neither will significantly reduce the chances of another banking collapse."
that Sir John Vickers has let the banks off lightly:
"It is high time there was an informed debate about the share of bank revenues devoted to remuneration, shareholders and tax. Unfortunately, the Vickers commission has ducked this issue.
Ìý
"It has backed away from radical reform for consumers too. The commission clearly looked at dismantling Lloyds' rescue merger with HBOS which was made at the height of the crisis and only after the government waived all existing competition considerations. This resulted in a further concentration of an already small number of banks and a reduction in customer choice."
The the panel has opted for safe solutions which won't have the desired effect:
"The relief in the nation's banking parlours - and the rise in bank stocks - spoke volumes as the mild-mannered Independent Commission on Banking presented its report yesterday. Instead of the radical shake-up which many of us hoped the high-level panel would produce, it has opted for safe solutions which will do nothing to puncture the arrogant complacency of the banking system.
Ìý
"Indeed, many of the proposals for making the culture of banking safer are already in train globally, including the requirement that banks hold much more capital - to protect against future disasters - and better separation of their 'casino' and retail activities."
The this is a missed opportunity for radical reform:
"[T]he ICB had a clear alternative path: complete separation of retail and investment banking. That would have wiped out any doubt in the mind of bankers or investors about the limited nature of the state's guarantee. Yet the committee's members chose not to go down that road. The report's justifications for this are terribly weak. It hints at the "costs" of a full separation and the 'benefits' of the universal banking model. Yet it does not spell out what it thinks these are, or how much they are worth.
Ìý
"The report reads as if it lacks the courage of its own convictions. The substance points one way, but the conclusion does not follow."
about the motivations behind the report:
"Sir John has seemed more attuned to political expedience than to the wider national interest. The bankers, of course, will protest against even the report's fairly modest proposals. They have grown accustomed to collecting fat rents in a rigged market. But you can already hear the sighs of relief in Downing Street and the clinking of glasses in the Barclays boardroom."
