RBS CEO: Banks Serve Public Interest, Help Grow Economy

13th Jul 2010 14:20

By Marietta Cauchi and Patricia Kowsmann Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES LONDON (Dow Jones)--Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC's (RBS) chief executive officer Tuesday said banks play an important role in helping the economy grow, and that while he accepted reforms were needed, any such changes should be appropriate. "The next set of reforms lie around making banks less likely to fail, less likely to trigger destabilising risk and better equipped to withstand it," said Stephen Hester, speaking at the British Bankers' Association's annual international banking conference. In particular, Hester said there was no case for separating banks between those that offer retail banking and those that engage in investment banking. Some regulators and politicians said banks that traded their own money while also advising customers and running retail banking contributed to the financial crisis. "What was emphatically not a common factor was the size, shape or diversity of failed banks. Nor was excessive speculating and proprietary trading activities," said Hester. -By Marietta Cauchi, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 207 842 9241; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 13, 2010 09:20 ET (13:20 GMT)