BOE’s Deputy Governor Says Markets are Quite Fragile

A leading Bank of England policymaker has expressed concerns about the “fragility” of the global financial markets as he warned against any watering down of regulatory reforms eight years on from the financial crisis.

“I do think financial markets at the moment are quite fragile,” said Sir Jon Cunliffe, a deputy governor for financial stability. Cunliffe said he was not too concerned about the recent sharp falls in China feeding through to other stock markets but highlighted a lack of liquidity in global markets. This, he said, could make it more difficult to sell some investments in strained circumstances.

The Bank of England warned earlier this month of six potential risks to financial stability – the global environment, the reduction of market liquidity in some markets, Britain’s current account deficit, the UK’s housing market, the £30bn of fines paid by banks since the 2008 financial crisis and the risk of cyber attacks. At the time focus was on the ongoing crisis in Greece and its position in the eurozone.

Cunliffe said his concern is not about potential losses for investors but more about the impact it could have on financial stability. “People seem to be underpricing liquidity,” he said. “We don’t know how they [the markets] will behave under stress and we are watching that very carefully.”

“If and when US interest rates go up … there are concerns about how the market will adjust. This must be the most advertised, well signalled change in monetary policy in the history of man. Nonetheless you don’t know. These are different sorts of markets to the ones we had before,” he said.

Cunliffe was speaking as he prepared to deliver a speech to a City audience in which he warned against rowing back against regulatory reforms put in place since the 2008 crisis in any attempt to fuel growth.

via The Guardian

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