HSBC head delivers assessment of credit crunch
The current financial crisis is the worst since the stock market crash of 1929, the head of HSBC has claimed.Speaking to business leaders, Stephen Green said that the credit crunch was the most complex crisis in history.Mr Green also had praise for the government's bank recapitalisation plan, in which HSBC did not take part.RBS, HBOS and Lloyds TSB are to receive around £37 billion in the form of equity share purchases, made with public money.This will, it is hoped, bolster confidence in the struggling institutions.Mr Green said: "The government stepped in to resuscitate a number of banks and financial institutions to become part owners of last resort. A decision that I'm sure was as unpalatable to the government as it was to the private sector, it was nevertheless the right one."He added: "Banks became overgeared [ie, owed too much] and too dependent on wholesale funding regulators did not pay enough attention to liquidity management in the banks."
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