"We think this is a once in 35 year opportunity for the banking system. We are in a perfect storm as customer loyalty to their bank is low and customer service has been a key differentiator"
Joe Pagano, head of banking and capital markets at Microsoft, says technology will be a key part of the battleground for deposits (see US retail banks go to war)
"Normally, when you see equity investors this far underweight such a big sector as banks, they are nervous they might miss out on a big rally. But investors aren’t worrying about that right now. Investors have disengaged from banks"
John-Paul Crutchley, banks analyst at UBS
(see ECB: The end of the last resort)
"There is only one way of stabilizing this crisis. The ECB has to expand its balance sheet. It has to become the lender of last resort on a much larger scale and, when required, print money"
Stephen King, chief economist at HSBC
(see ECB: The end of the last resort)
"Political developments at a local level are of limited consequence. In short, changing the actors is of no consequence if it is the stage that is the problem"
Richard Maguire of Rabobank doesn’t hold out too much hope for new Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy
(see Property crisis drains Spain’s hopes of recovery)
"If a big property developer in China was to default, this could lead to political instability. The Chinese government could not allow this to happen. Social instability is one of its greatest fears"
Oscar Choi of Citi looks at how the Chinese property bubble might be prevented from bursting