The Great Debate

– Leo Apotheker, co-CEO and member of the executive board of German software maker SAP AG, is a guest columnist. The views expressed are his own. —

The U.S. government’s recent bank stress tests were all about clarity. With hard data and clear facts, they shone a bright light on the shadowy uncertainties of complex financial transactions.

The question now is: Will this sort of clarity be a part of doing business in the financial industry?

Bank regulators in the European Union should look at the U.S. example and make results of their upcoming stress tests of European banks transparent to the public.

Currently, they intend to inform only the EU finance ministers and executive agencies.

– Margaret Doyle is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are her own –

It’s tough on Ukraine, but European banks should pull out. It may not be the only Eastern European economy giving its western bankers a headache but that country’s political chaos and weak corporate governance outweigh the prospects of a return to growth.

Hungarians and Romanians, the bulk of whose loans are in foreign currencies, have seen their debts rise as their own currencies fall. And Sweden’s SEB and Swedbank have taken a pasting in their neighbouring Baltic states.