Citigroup Inc Chief Executive Vikram Pandit has said while markets are experiencing some of the same things they did during the 2008 financial crisis, the situation now is fundamentally different.
Speaking at the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association annual meeting in New York on Monday, Pandit said the 2008 crisis was triggered by leverage, which we are still living with today.
"Although we are seeing some of the signs of 2008 today, I do think it is fundamentally different today than it was back then," Pandit said.
He added: "Of course, when you go back and think about what brought all of this on, it was leverage, and we're still living through the impact of leverage."
Pandit's wide-ranging comments also touched on regulation. He said that banks should not be "speculating with their capital" but added that, operationally, it is a challenge to determine what the limits should be.
He also said that "shadow banking" - non-bank financial institutions that are lightly regulated but act like banks in financing long-term credit - is growing.
{{/usCountry}}He also said that "shadow banking" - non-bank financial institutions that are lightly regulated but act like banks in financing long-term credit - is growing.
{{/usCountry}}"We live in a networked world. It's a world of financial firms - shadow banking is huge. It's not only true here in the US, but, by the way, by some estimates I've heard, half of China's financial markets are shadow banking. Capital is finding its way towards shadow banking faster than towards a formalized banking system right now," Pandit said.