Where you stand depends on where you sit, says the old saw. And there could be no finer proof in the corporate governance world than the fresh dustup over the Glass-Steagall Act, the long-repealed separation of commercial banking from investment banking.
Ex-Citicorp architect Sandy Weil recently caused a stir when he called for breaking up banks deemed too big to fail. Yes, the same Sandy Weil who celebrated his role in creating supermarket banking by proudly displayed a plaque reading “The Shatterer of Glass-Steagall” is now calling for re-regulation. “What we should probably do is go and split up investment banking from banking,” he said. Several of Weil’s contemporaries who formerly helmed top-tier banks—John Reed, also from Citicorp; David Komansky, former CEO of Merrill Lynch; and Phillip Purcell, former CEO of Morgan Stanley—all agree.
