Domestic priorities threaten global standards

What does it mean to be courageous, in the context of regulation? Sheila Bair, former chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in the US, uses the term in this month's cover story, to describe Federal Reserve proposals that would regulate the local offshoots of foreign banks as though they were standalone entities.

It's brave because it's a break with tradition. Usually, banks are regulated on a global, consolidated basis, allowing capital and liquidity to be managed at the group