The Global Financial, Banking System Came To Complete Collapse, Says Bankers To The Deal Magazine
- The Global Financial, Banking System Came To Complete Collapse, Says Bankers
In a series of interviews for The Deal magazine on the state of rivalry in the domestic banking business, the bosses of the big four banks have disclosed that how close the global economical system came to complete collapse.
All four say the world came dangerously close to a disastrous meltdown, and National Australia Bank chief executive Cameron Clyne warns we are “not yet at a point where anyone should declare victory”.
A typically straightforward Mr Smith said he had wondered “if it was all over” in the chaotic weeks that followed the end of Lehman on September 15.
“When I looked at the other investment banks, they were very susceptible because they were so highly leveraged,” Mr. Smith said in his interview for The Deal, which is available in tomorrow’s The Australian.
“At the time, I thought maybe this was the end of the banking system as we know it.
“It’s the first time in my career I’ve felt that, but the US looked very, very precarious and I felt the regulators didn’t know what they were doing.”
“It was a damn near-run thing, and I don’t think people realise that,” Mr Smith said. “I tell you the person who did realize it and that was (British Prime Minister) Gordon Brown; he was one of the few people who actually understood the severity of it, and by standing behind the banking system he put his finger in the dike.
“That stopped it, because the European contagion was massive. I think he probably did save it.”
Mrs Kelly said she had attended a European meeting in October of about a dozen global bank chief executives, and there had been a strong view that it had been “a mistake” to allow Lehman to go to the wall.
“I don’t think people thought through the consequences,” she said. “There was a sense of inconsistency when what was needed was stability.”
Mr Smith said that then-US Treasury secretary Hank Paulson had got it “completely wrong” in not understanding that Lehman Brothers was a counter-party in a huge number of global transactions — including the off balance sheet derivatives market.
“I think he felt he had to let something go, and he was probably right, but he shouldn’t have let something go that was so international; he could have let a large regional bank go if he wanted to make a point,” the ANZ chief said.
“Consumer protection has gained dominance, whereas APRA has proved itself in this crisis, working very closely with the Reserve Bank and the major banks to ensure there was no liquidity freeze,” Mr Norris said.
[...] The Global Financial, Banking System Came To Complete Collapse … By Narendra Singh All four say the world came dangerously close to a disastrous meltdown, and National Australia Bank chief executive Cameron Clyne warns we are “not yet at a point where anyone should declare victory”. A typically straightforward Mr Smith … “At the time, I thought maybe this was the end of the banking system as we know it. “It's the first time in my career I've felt that, but the US looked very, very precarious and I felt the regulators didn't know what they were doing.” … News-Relay.com – http://www.news-relay.com/ No tags for this post. [...]