General

Royal Bank on global “too big to fail” list: Financial Times

Regulations would require it to maintain more capital

Royal Bank of Canada is on a list of 20 world banks that have been deemed “too big to fail,” according to a Financial Times story that quotes individuals familiar with the agenda at this week’s G20 summit in South Korea. The international Financial Stability Board has been working the a list of banks that could face enhanced scrutiny and be forced to keep extra capital locked-up as insurance against an economic meltdown. JPMorgan Chase, HSBC, Barclays and Credit Suisse are also on the list. Gordon Nixon, CEO of Royal Bank, says that it would be “unfair” and “illogical” that his bank be included. He says that although it’s the biggest bank it Canada, it doesn’t differ significantly in size from the other Canadian banks. He also said banks would do whatever they could to stay under the threshold of “too big to fail,” which could have a negative effect on the economy. “What I would say is we can shrink our balance sheet very quickly if we had to,” Nixon told the Financial Post. The issue of which banks are “too big to fail” may or may not be decided by the end of this week’s summit.

Financial Post

Looking for more?

Get the Best of Maclean's sent straight to your inbox. Sign up for news, commentary and analysis.
  • By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.
FILED UNDER: