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...proposals have sparked grumbling among bankers, especially in Europe, because the requirements would crimp their profitability. JPMorgan this month estimated that, if key measures like increased capital requirements are implemented, the average return on equity of investment banks would drop by one-third. "It's out of the question to systematically increase layers of capital in the banks if there's no supplementary risk," says Ariane Obolensky, managing director of the French Banking Federation. But the tide is against such critics. As Stark of the ECB put it in a speech this month, "the simple statement that 'if banks...
...Edging Toward the Exit U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner this month announced that the U.S. is starting to phase out some of its emergency support for banks and financial markets. But he pointedly made no mention of a full-blown "exit strategy," saying that "we must continue reinforcing recovery until it is self-sustaining." When and how governments and central banks pull back is a critical issue that still needs to be coordinated. One of the risks is that inflation could soar due to the explosion of national debt in many countries during the crisis. And early signs suggest governments...
...Fixing Those Bonuses Almost everyone thinks something should be done to curb big paydays for bailed-out bankers, but solutions are elusive. Finance Ministers of the G-20 nations earlier this month agreed that bonuses should be more clearly tied to performance, but Britain and the U.S. resisted demands by France and Germany to have them capped. Sensing the prevailing political winds, some bankers are already moving to forestall draconian new rules. The Dutch banking association announced that its members have agreed to cap bonuses and severance pay. And in France, bankers have been so frequently called to the Elys...
...their own countries. French Defense Minister Hervé Morin has warned of "absolute chaos" if France pulled out and opened the door to a rush of other withdrawals. "When the security of our country is at stake," said British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in a speech earlier this month, "we cannot walk away...
...whose control over the country created a safe haven for a terrorist group that threatened the West. Even when they squabbled with Washington over Iraq, countries such as France and Germany stayed firm on Afghanistan. But public support has fallen over the years, and especially in the past 12 months. An August poll by French daily Le Figaro found that just 36% backed France's military's presence in Afghanistan. In July, a Forsa poll for German magazine Stern found that 61% of Germans want the country's military involvement to end. In Britain, which has 9,000 troops...