Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Meredith Whitney: Don't Force Banks Into 'Draconian' Breakups





US banks are already starting to separate commercial and investment banking operations, so there's no need for the radical breakup suggested by former Citi chairman Sandy Weill, banking analyst Meredith Whitney told CNBC Wednesday.

“You don’t have to have a draconian move to split up the banks,” Whitney, founder of the Meredith Whitney Advisory Group said on “Closing Bell.”

“The (banking) group has absolutely no momentum,” she said. “You’re not getting paid to wait because the dividends are only marginally attractive and there is still risk.”  The big banks need to be completely reconstructed and they need to get back to basics and profitability, Whitney said. “Then you’ll see momentum.”

“It’s nice to say the big banks should be broken up (but) it’s very expensive to do so,” Whitney said. “That’s why you’re seeing the big banks trade at such steep discounts.”

No comments:

Post a Comment