Trump’s return to White House will bring trade ructions, StanChart CEO says

LONDON: Global trade flows will suffer from “interesting ructions” as the new administration of U.S. President Donald Trump settles in, Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters said during a panel session at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday.

“We’ll see what comes through in terms of tariffs…but we know China is a big part of that in terms of having a gigantic export surplus, and that will be under attack from all parts of the world,” Winters said.

Big globally-focused banks will be able to benefit from that disruption in their roles connecting between markets, Winters said, while locally-focused banks may struggle.

As well as disruption from the change in administration in the United States, banks face a slew of fresh regulation even as governments around the world try to prioritise growth.

“Look, regulation has been stifling,” BNY CEO Robin Vince said. “It’s really against the whole purpose that governments around the world have in trying to enable growth for their countries.”

The Bank of England said on Friday it would delay tougher bank capital rules by a year to January 2027 to get clarity on what the United States will do under Trump, prompting the European Union to say it would also weigh its options.

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The standards written by the global Basel Committee are the final set of international reforms designed to make the banking system safer after the 2008 global financial crisis, and are meant to be implemented by member jurisdictions.

“This is a good time to take a step back and think about what works in regulation and what doesn’t,” Winters said, flagging his skepticism about where so-called ‘end-game’ Basel 3.1 bank capital regulation would land, given an array of delays and revisions announced in several major markets.