Trump's bonfire of banking rules could burn us all | Nils Pratley

The ECB's Mario Draghi is right to warn against relaxing rules such as Dodd-Frank aimed at preventing another financial crisis

"The last thing we want at this point in time is a relaxation of regulation," said Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank on Monday. He is right to worry. Relaxation of financial regulation is exactly what Donald Trump has in mind and the effects could be felt around the world.

The US president seems to have accepted the half-baked idea that US banks are somehow so tied down by international regulations that they are obliged to hoard capital that could be used for lending to the American economy. "I have so many people, friends of mine, who have nice businesses who can't borrow money," said Trump when he signed an executive order last week.

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