We citizens need to lay down some strict terms for taming bad regulations risk.

Sir, Sam Fleming and Tracy Alloway report: “Rulemakers lay down terms for taming shadow banking risk” October 14.

And my wish would be for us citizens to be able to lay down some strict terms for taming any bad regulations risk.

For instance, in all shadow banking, a Euro, a Dollar, a Pound or whatever other currency of equity, are all the same equity, no matter what assets risks they are exposed to. Not so in formal regulated banks. There a Euro, a Dollar, a Pound or whatever other currency in equity, represents a different equity, according to the respective credit risk weight of the assets it is backing.

How regulators were fooled by naturally higher returns on bank equity seeking bankers, into believing that would not distort the allocation of bank credit, with great dangers to the real economy and to the stability of the banks, beats me.

And so the first term I would as a concerned citizen lay down for the regulators would be: “Whatever you do, don’t think yourselves smarter than the markets. And if you absolutely must distort the allocation of bank credit, one way or another, make sure you obtain the permission to do so, including of course that of those borrowers who will see their access to bank credit made more difficult and expensive because of it.