Friday, January 22, 2010

Tory Hallelujah

Bulletin to those claiming that Obama's proposed ban on proprietary trading etc. for deposit-taking banks will drive major banking operations overseas (FT):

Tories ready to follow Obama’s lead

The UK opposition Conservative party is likely to follow the lead of Barack Obama , US president, and introduce similar trading curbs for banks based in the City if elected, George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, said Thursday night.

The Tories – widely expected to win a general election which is due within four months – fired a warning shot across the bows of financial institutions including Barclays, Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse and UBS,saying the Obama crackdown on proprietary trading was “definitely something we think needs to be done”.

When the Brits slapped their giant tax on bank bonuuses, they were covered by similar action fom the French and Obama's proposed tax on bank liabilities.  If the Volcker rule gets traction, other major banking centers will probably follow suit.

No comments:

Post a Comment