Europe's banks need a fundamental restructuring to sort out the mess from the 2008 financial crisis and enable them to fund the growth that the eurozone and British economies so desperately need, a former senior aide to European Commission president José Manuel Barroso has claimed.
Philippe Legrain, who in February ended a three-year stint as Mr Barroso’s independent economic adviser, believes that a banking shake-up is essential as the first part of a three-pronged strategy to get Europe back on track.
“Europe needs to restructure its banking system,” he said in an interview with The Telegraph. “The Americans have been much more vigorous in that than we have.
“There has been a belief that it’s best to try to preserve existing banks and exercise regulatory forbearance rather than force them to face up to their losses, sorting viable banks from unviable ones, recapitalising viable ones and closing down the unviable – the usual standard policy for dealing with a banking crisis.
“The rule book has been broken here in Europe and the result is that we have a zombie banking system that keeps alive zombie companies that should go bust, while failing to extend credit to promising new companies that could deliver future growth.
3 comments:
azi
14 mai 2014
Va recomandam sa fiti deosebit de prudent astazi, pentru ca puteti avea probleme cu sanatatea sau chiar accidente. Nu va supra-solicitati!
Ar fi bine sa evitati calatoriile lungi si petrecerile. Pe fondul oboselii acumulate, puteti deveni irascibil si nu este exclus sa va luati la cearta.
» Horoscop Varsator
The number of UK houses selling for more than £1m is now comfortably over the previous pre-crisis peak, flags up Sky News's Ed Conway:
A reason for the Bank of England to act? Perhaps, but Mark Carney could also point out that most of them are in London, where property prices have been rampant-- that doesn't mean the whole UK economy can sustain higher borrowing costs...
Identity issues
A Ukrainian separatist leader is calling on Russia to "absorb" the eastern region of Donetsk after Sunday's referendum on self-rule.
Self-declared Donetsk People's Republic leader Denis Pushilin urged Moscow to listen to the "will of the people".
In neighbouring Luhansk, where a vote was also held, rebels declared independence.
Ukraine, the EU and US have declared the referendums illegal but Russia says the results should be "implemented".
Moscow has so far not commented on the call for Donetsk to become part of Russia but has appealed for dialogue between the militants and Kiev, with the participation of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
Continue reading the main story
Analysis
image of Steven Rosenberg
Steven Rosenberg
BBC News, Moscow
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What is President Putin's end game?
Today's Kremlin statement on the referendums provides few clues. It is brief, calls for "dialogue" and peaceful "implementation" of the results of the vote.
I would argue Moscow's objectives are clear: to retain influence in at least part of Ukraine, to ensure that not all of Ukraine embraces the European Union or - Russia's biggest nightmare - Nato.
On Russian TV today, a prominent pro-Russia Ukrainian called on parts of eastern and southern Ukraine to form an independent state called Novorossiya (New Russia). Such a 'state' would inevitably be loyal to Moscow.
So, is Novorossiya part of the Kremlin's long-term plan to retain influence in a large part of Ukraine? Or does Moscow's shorter-term strategy have more to do with derailing the upcoming presidential elections in Ukraine?
With less than two weeks to go before those elections, if it does have a plan, the Kremlin may soon reveal it.
Putin's next move?
Russia annexed Ukraine's southern autonomous republic of Crimea after a disputed referendum in March and Kiev now fears its intentions in Donetsk, Luhansk and parts of southern Ukraine.
Nato believes some 40,000 Russian troops are deployed near Ukraine's border, although Moscow says they have been pulled back.
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