America and Europe are practicing bungee jumping... without a rope!

Sir, when by means of capital requirements for banks based on perceived risks, regulators gave such a preferential access to bank credit to those officially perceived as not-risky, then they basically excluded the officially perceived as "risky", like the small businesses and entrepreneurs, from helping out in the economy. 

And that is immensely more dangerous than what Gillian Tett refers to in “Fiscal bungee jumping is the real threat to America” August 20, because it goes to the very heart of the economy. 

In fact considering the medium term implications of such unwise regulations I would say that America, and Europe too for that matter, are practicing bungee jumping without a rope. (And from its refusal to address this issue FT seemingly does not even care)

What kind of parents are you?

Sir, Frank Partnoy more than suggests that lawyers might have been more of enablers and emboldeners of bank shenanigans and concludes: One lesson from recent scandals is that banks need reliably independent in-house counsel, with a strong moral backbone”, “Who are the true villains of the StanChart tragedy?” August 9. Does that not go for regulators too? 

I mean if your children’s nanny had allowed, even pushed, one of them to go bungee-jumping, on account of the child begging, and some safety rating agency deeming that safe, and then a fatal accident happened… what would you do with the nanny? Would you still retain her services? If so, what kind of parent would that make of you? 

Currently those same nannies who with Basel II authorized banks to lend to Greece holding only 1.6 percent in capital, only because credit rating agencies deemed it safe, and which signifies a mindboggling authorized 62.5 to 1 leverage, have been retained and put in charge of coming up with Basel III, if not, like Mario Draghi, kept busy as president of the European Central Bank. What kind of parents does that make you?