IIF says time to pause “inferno” of new bank rules

COPENHAGEN (Reuters): Regulators should pause the “inferno” of reform initiatives being brought in to make the banking industry safer, as it is hurting lending as banks opt to shrink to meet the changes, the new head of the industry’s leading lobby group said.

Douglas Flint, chairman of the Institute of International Finance (IIF) and British bank HSBC, said on Thursday problems in the global economy made it an “opportune time” to consider pausing the amount of new regulations coming in.

Speaking at an IIF conference, he said banking markets were becoming more national, leading to less globalisation and more fragmentation of the industry.