July 27, 2014

“A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are for” John Augustus Shedd, 1850-1926.

Sir, (and you other there) why is it so hard for FT and for regulators to understand that what applies to ships also applies to banks? 

The motto of the British Special Air service its “Who dares win”, and your own includes “Without fear”… and yet you find nothing wrong with regulators senselessly making banks avoid risks by allowing them dangerously immense leverages and therefore high risk-adjusted profits on what is ex ante perceived as “absolutely safe”… but which of course presents no absolute certainty about how it will turn out ex post.

The risk weighted capital requirements for banks has effectively destroyed the credit transmission mechanism to the real economy of the banks. Sir, why is that so hard to understand? 

FT, are you really proud of having your bank regulators turning your daring British banks into sissy banks?

PS. “Play the game for more than you can afford to lose… only then will you learn the game” so said also your very own Winston Churchill.