Simon Johnson mocks British bank regulators.

See here.

I particularly like this passage:

“In plain English, a supposedly well-capitalized bank in the UK can have 97 cents of debt per one dollar of assets (and just three cents of equity). Such a low loss-absorption capacity would get you run out of town in the US, where regulators are weighing a 5-6% leverage ratio (twice as much equity on a non-risk-weighted basis), and some responsible officials are still pushing for 10% or higher.
So much for the laughs. The tragedy in the Prudential Regulation Authority’s exercise is British officials’ apparent belief that they are carrying out real reform, rather than setting the stage for serious trouble.”