"Scaling down an investment bank, particularly its derivatives positions, is a bit like shutting down a nuclear reactor. That’s something you do only very slowly and by keeping all your best and highest-paid engineers to do it"
Kiri Vijayarajah, banks analyst at Barclays, on the difficulty for UBS in executing its much-trumpeted reorganization
(see Reshaping UBS)
"Where there was delay it was mainly a result of the difficulty of coordinating so many players on the official side. I don’t think there was any question that on the private side there wasn’t any willingness to face reality and accept a haircut, which got bigger and bigger as time moved on"
Robert Gray, chairman, debt finance and advisory, HSBC in London, which advised the Greek government on its 2012 €206 billion debt restructuring, says the crucial deal could have been expedited sooner, to the benefit of Greece, the European banking sector and the eurozone, had the Troika been better organized
(See Deals of the year )
"The shift in the LCR is not pro-bank or anti-bank. It is pro-reality. It looks like reality is now playing a role in shaping the rules at Basle"
Wayne Abernathy, executive vice-president for financial institutions policy and regulatory affairs at the American Bankers Association, suggests that the changes to the leverage coverage ratio could presage a broader unravelling of Basle III.