Subbarao cautions against creating 'too-large-to-fail bank'

Says what is needed is not a monopolist but a number of comparatively large banks

Amidst the ongoing talks of consolidating small state-run banks to create one or two globally large size banks, Reserve Bank governor D Subbarao today cautioned against making a 'too-large-to-fail' banks, saying what is needed is not a monopolist but a number of comparatively large banks.

Citing the 2008 credit crisis, which was triggered by too-big-to-fail banks, Subbarao said, "we don't need monopolies, instead we need four-five banks of big size, as large banks can become too-big-to fail, leading to moral hazard problems."

He also said "too large banks lead to complexity and too-big-to-fail or too-connected-to-fail moral hazards with adverse impact on financial stability".

He also said though consolidation brings in higher capital base facilitating increased lending activity and faster GDP growth, apart from boosting infra financing, and meet demands of corporates, both at home and globally, apart from cost efficiencies and  focused supervision, he said it also brings in regulatory issues.

"Significantly big banks can resort to monopolistic practices that may result in unequal competition and distortive and even predatory behaviour in the market. Such practices can also blunt the monetary transmission and market mechanism for efficient allocation of resources," he said.

Addressing a Ficci-organised banking summit here, he at the same time said that it will take several years for the country's banks to achieve the status of a large global bank.

"Our biggest bank (SBI) is ranked at about 60 in the global league of large banks. It may take years for our banks to become global players by way of organic growth. However, we should aspire to have a few Indian multinational banks in the near future by selective acquisition, as large banks may dilute the benefits of competition."

It can be noted that Finance Minister P Chidambaram had in May also called for consolidation in the banking sector to create a few large global-sized banks saying it was needed for a large growing economy.