tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5972739420349387167.post5962151041301792052..comments2023-09-22T10:30:26.544-07:00Comments on BANKING ON ECONOMICS: Banks in retreat?ROBERT MCDOWELLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07998963662141879105noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5972739420349387167.post-92142646996706438602008-09-21T00:50:00.000-07:002008-09-21T00:50:00.000-07:00With political authorities involved there is more ...With political authorities involved there is more play for the emotions of the general public as well as for the thousands of finance sector employees who feel threatened. That Morgan Stanley, for example, sought to sell nearly half of itself to China's sovereign funds, as Lehman too had done in Korea, will play very badly in the US in respect of pride and belief in the US financial services almost as if these are some kind of Faustian pact, banks selling their US free enterprise souls to foreign governments! Something similar is happening in Scotland over selling Scotland oldest bank to "the Sassenach English" as was also the case in Holland with the break-up sale of ABN AMRO that caused many Dutch Corporate clients to desert it for ING. It is salutory for the banks to learn that national sentiment can be very important still in this globalised world and that they imperil themselves when they reject their home nationality where, after all, are the only governments who will protect them at a time when all banks have had to rediscover the importance of political support!ROBERT MCDOWELLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07998963662141879105noreply@blogger.com