Final Word from Wednesday, November 9, 2005
Bankers are among our most interactive readers. They laugh at our jokes (one top banker particularly liked our reference to Eminem and "Stan"), but they don't let us sleep if they disagree. Jack Stack of ČS set us straight for our remarks about state intervention but agreed that greater consumer protection is needed. We sought a response from Pavel Kavánek of ČSOB to his consumer-protection troubles, but he entered the hospital on Mon. for a knee operation. (Sorry to have kicked him while he was down.) His spokesman, Milan Tománek, acknowledged that the banks might be at fault for selling services that are too state-of-the-art for the size of their customers' wallets. It seems, though, that the banks suffer from another ailment. They think they have an inalienable right to a 20% return on equity, and by golly they're going to get it. For most everyone else, it's something to work toward. [Czech Republic banking Česká spořitelna CEO regulation]