Better Markets’ Senior Fellow, Robert Jenkins, had the following column published in Financial World:

“The financial crisis shone a harsh light on many issues in banking including: excessive leverage in the banking system; imprudent liquidity management; risks associated with interconnectivity; too big to fail; too big to manage; pay structures; accounting conventions; transparency; subsidies; accountability and corporate culture.

“Regulators are working away at all of these and more. Progress has been made on each, but each remains an unfinished chapter in the ever-lengthening book of financial reform. Perhaps policymakers should prioritise. Are some items more important than others? If one were to focus on just two challenges, which two should they be? What would be at the top of your list? Put another way, which key issues if not addressed would render irrelevant progress on all others?

“My own candidates are: 1. accountability and 2. leverage. Why? Because the first is important to the legitimacy of our market system; the second is vital to its survival. I have written in these pages about leverage (“Advantage Bankers” Financial World, June 2013), so let me focus here on accountability.”

Jenkins’ full article can be found in the attached PDF: