The deputy governor of the Bank of England wants regulators the world over to consult each other before fining their own banks for misconduct. His motivation seems to be to save recalcitrant banks money.

For the first time ever, as far as is known, a senior regulator has called for global co- ordination of regulatory fines.  Bank of England deputy governor Andrew Bailey, talking at a British Bankers’ Association conference, told delegates that regulators around the world should talk to each other and put their “cards on the table” in an attempt to decide on sensible penalties for misconduct. They should, he said, allow their foreign colleagues in other regulatory agencies to have their say before penalising banks. He called for a “collegial approach” characterised by “trust” among regulators.

His chief concern, by all accounts, seems to be the ever-increasing volume of fines and its deleterious effect on the recapitalisation of banks since the 2008 crisis. He reportedly said that while he was trying to increase financial firms’ capital, regulatory fines were sapping the process. The regulators he wants to conduct the negotiations seem mainly to be prudential ones such as the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority, although fines are levied mainly for bad ‘conduct.’ No other regulators from around the world have  commented so far.