Basel rules could cause SME 'credit drought' warn banks - papers

In a seemingly co-ordinated response, Britain's bailed-out banks warned the Basel Committee for Banking Supervision's proposals for a stricter regulatory environment could stifle economic recovery, the Daily Mail reports. Lloyds Banking Group, which is 41% taxpayer-owned, says the international banking enforcer's proposals risk ‘very serious damage to our fragile economic recovery, especially if implemented within the proposed timetable'. It would become 'uneconomic' to lend to small firms, and proposed minimum liquidity standards, which would require lenders to significantly bolster ...