The world’s top banking gurus aren’t sure how to fight back against a global push for tougher financial regulation, with commercial and investment banks struggling to reach common ground, according to a recent Reuters report.
“Top executives from Wall Street and Europe’s leading banks have been holding behind-the-scenes talks at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos, sources close to the negotiations said, but a deal has proved elusive,” Reuters reported.
Both Wall Street’s largest banks and some major European ones have argued to support each other against politicians who are calling for tougher procedures to regulate the industry in the wake of financial crises.
“But they did not manage to win over the heads of some commercial banks who believe the industry needs to be more conciliatory, the sources with knowledge of the talks said,” Reuters reported.
U.S. President Barack Obama has said he wanted the financial sector to pay for a massive taxpayer bailout. This followed a recent move by Britain to introduce a “supertax” on higher bank staff bonuses.
One top banker said many executives were frustrated after they’d done a lot to change in the past year but that politicians just weren’t listening, according to Reuters.
“The more challenging strand of how banks and bankers craft a new relationship with society is on the political side,” he said, adding the industry had been “tone deaf” and insensitive, Reuters reported.