Bank CEOs meeting in private at the World Economic Forum on Wednesday aired concerns about the competitive risks from fintech firms and private lenders, and complained about onerous regulations, a source familiar with the matter said.
At the meeting in Davos, attended by dozens of CEOs including JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Jamie Dimon, executives also discussed a challenging global economic picture, with shifting interest rate policies and rising debt, another person with knowledge of the meeting told Reuters.
Bank leaders were observed going into the meeting by Reuters. Before the meeting, at least one banking CEO told Reuters they see geopolitical risks potentially derailing interest rate cuts.
The private session was led by Barclays CEO C.S. Venkatakrishnan and Manulife CEO Roy Gori, according to a copy of the agenda seen by Reuters.
The topics included navigating risk against a backdrop of geopolitical tension, macroeconomic uncertainty and technological disruption.
Draft rule overhaul
The pushback on regulation comes after Wall Street banks this week urged the U.S. Federal Reserve to completely overhaul a draft rule hiking bank capital, seeking to water down the “Basel Endgame” proposal that bankers say will hurt the economy.
UBS Chairman Colm Kellehe said regulators should focus on so-called shadow lenders that aren’t subject to the same rules and are more likely to cause the next crisis.
There were about 60 CEOs of global financial firms present.
