Commonwealth frets over Basel options
David Turner, the new chair of the board of Commonwealth Bank, makes a few points on banking policy in the introduction to the bank's annual report for 2010, published on Friday.Turner cautions against a "one size fits all approach".He writes of the few bruises on banks over the course of the crisis, "rigorous internal processes" and "a strong regulatory environment and good oversight system".Turner writes that "there is a danger that higher capital and/or liquidity levels could significantly increase the cost, or decrease the availability, of credit to our customers.""So," Turner wrote, "rather than rush in and adopt a 'global solution' we will continue to work closely … on sensible policy initiatives that don't impact negatively on our customers, our shareholders and the Australian economy."Turner notes that business and consumer confidence "remain fragile". "This fragility manifested itself in a slowing in the underlying momentum in our business at the end of the 2010 financial year. "As a result it is appropriate to maintain a degree of caution about the prospects for our business for the coming year. We intend to retain conservative capital and liquidity settings for the foreseeable future so that we are able to provide support to our customers in these uncertain times."