Davos bankers make little headway
TEXT OF STORY
Steve Chiotakis: Bankers, regulators and finance chiefs from all around the world ended talks over the weekend at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. They wanted to hammer out some global financial regulations. Marketplace wraps up its coverage of the events in Davos, and Stephen Beard reports
the leaders didn’t make a whole lot of headway.
Stephen Beard: The meeting was prompted by President Obama’s plan to curb bonuses and crackdown on risky bank practices. The fear is that if the restrictions are not universal, they won’t work. Banks will just relocate to countries with a lighter regulatory regime.
Executives from half a dozen major banks attended the meeting. They agreed on the overall need for global rules, but they didn’t seem too keen on actual curbs.
After the meeting, Joseph Ackerman, head of Deutschebank, spoke out. He said it’s vital not to hamper the banks:
Joseph Ackerman: We need a strong financial sector to cover the real issues which are ahead of us — namely unemployment, secondly poverty, global imbalances, many other things.
Britain’s finance chief, who was also at the meeting, warned against the dangers of dithering. He said we must act quickly. If we don’t, we may lose the momentum for reform.
In Davos, Switzerland, this is Stephen Beard for Marketplace.
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