Speech McCreevy: Current challenges facing the global banking sector

18 December 2007

Speaking at the Kuwait Global Forum in Brussels, Commissioner McCreevy reiterated that a 'knee-jerk' reaction to recent events should be avoided. However, “it is legitimate to ask how well financial institutions understood the complexity of some of the financial instruments they deployed and invested in”, the Commissioner said. “If the industry, amongst others, cannot do better in the future - strong pressure for intrusive regulatory action will grow”, he underlined.

 

With regard to Sovereign Wealth Funds “there are aspects, namely around the issues of transparency and governance that, for certain funds, need to be addressed”, McCreevy stated and called for an international code of best practice. “There needs to be an understanding that investments that have the potential to compromise national security can be blocked”, he added

 

Full speech

© Graham Bishop