By Jonathan Stempel and Tatiana Bautzer
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said U.S. authorities need to be careful when implementing new capital requirements of the Basel III accord to avoid reducing the ability of U.S. banks to compete globally.
In an interview with Fox Business, Moynihan said the process needs to assure "the playing field is level," saying the rules should be implemented carefully "so to not make the U.S. less competitive."
"We're not talking about the big eight banks. ... We're talking about a $30 or $40 billion bank, or a $100 billion bank, not being able to compete for a middle market loan because a bank or a supplier in Europe ... is getting a lower cost of capital", Moynihan added.
U.S. banking regulators are expected to unveil on Thursday a sweeping proposal for stricter bank capital requirements. While the precise details aren't yet known, regulators have said the rules will apply to banks with $100 billion in assets or more.
Asked about the deal between Pacwest Bancorp (NASDAQ:PACW) and Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) and the sale of a $2 billion mortgage portfolio to JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), Moynihan said JPMorgan helped the deal to come through, which is 'terrific'.
Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) expects a "slight" recession in the first part of next year and predicts the first interest rate cut will happen by mid-2024. "The power of the consumer, the power of the American economy," he said. "That's keeping the economy going. We may get very lucky and have a very soft landing."