UK-US bigwigs meet for G-SIB resolution

The FDIC and the BoE have released news of a joint high-level meeting and exercise designed to “further the understanding, communication, and cooperation between U.S. and U.K. authorities in the event of the failure and resolution of a global systemically important bank, or G-SIB.” Timed to coincide with the annual 2014 IMF meeting, the event was attended by a cast of luminaries from regulators and government from both sides of the Atlantic, including: Mark Carney, Martin Wheatley, George Osborne, Timothy Massad, Mary Jo White and Janet Yellen. The discussion focused on “strategies requiring coordination between US and UK authorities, and key challenges to the successful resolution of US and UK G-SIBs”. The G-SIB resolution exercise builds on a body of co-operative work between the two largest banking centres, including the publication of a joint paper and participation in detailed resolution simulations.

While G-SIB\TBTF resolution planning is a vital ingredient in the G20 medicinal package and international coordination is to be welcomed, it is a shame that such high-level amity cannot be brought to bear on the many US-EU questions that urgently require answering.