“It’s time to close our regulatory journey, to allow banks to plan on a longer term, in a stabilized regulatory environment”
Banque de France’s Robert Ophèle does a regulator’s take on Bob Diamond’s old line about an end to banker bashing
“We are not the old ABN Amro. That was three times as big than we are now. We limit ourselves to international activities where we have a strong capability, a strong tradition and are likely to win”
Chairman Gerrit Zalm insists that ABN Amro’s new international ambitions won’t fall victim to the bank’s past mistakes
“While internet companies are not a challenge for us in the short term, their impact over the longer term will be quite astonishing. If we do not take action in the near future, some banks will not be able to compete with these companies”
Hong Qi, chairman of China Minsheng Bank, knows the country’s established banks need to up their game
“We found that the big banks we had set out to disrupt are now much more open to sharing infrastructure and working with new providers, rather than seeking to own every leg of the transaction over its life cycle”
Raja Palaniappan’s fintech start-up Origin planned to disintermediate capital markets banks, but in the end found a useful ally in Barclays
“There is a lot of stress. And when I get stressed, I lose weight. So, you ask, do I enjoy it?”
Kenya’s central bank governor Patrick Njoroge lost 5kg in his first three weeks in the job in 2015, but his weight has since stabilized
