It's "fess up" time for the bankers. Really, what choice do they have?
Bank of America's Lewis Calls for Lending `Sanity'
Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive Officer Ken Lewis said a so-called credit bubble is about to break after six years of historically low interest rates and relaxed lending criteria.
``We are close to a time when we'll look back and say we did some stupid things,'' Lewis said, speaking at a lunch at the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce in Zurich. ``We need a little more sanity in a period in which everyone feels invincible and thinks this is different.''
Lewis isn't the only U.S. bank executive who expects that credit conditions will change. Wells Fargo & Co. Chief Executive Officer Richard Kovacevich said in December that ``I am not a forecaster of the future; I'm a historian. And history says this will blow up. It always has. And there will be some blood on the street.''Some bank executives, including Barclays Plc President Robert Diamond, say the credit rally may run longer.
``I think the liquidity is probably a little bit more sustainable than he would think,'' Diamond said in an interview today. ``Only time will tell.'' He said bond yields are increasing and volatility ``will be back.''
Stay Tuned!
