One anomaly in the new regulatory framework designed to make the world's biggest banks safe to fail is that in most instances only equity holders have a say on such institutions' boards. An IMF report says debt should have a voice too. This is not as revolutionary as it might sound. Many savings banks around the world, such as Spanish cajas or British building societies, have long had their depositors and other customers represented on their management boards to keep their lending policies in check. This could also make sense for systemically important banks given that so much of recent debt issued by such institutions has equity characteristics. These hybrid instruments - dubbed by some as "pre-funded rights issues" - either get wiped out or in effect become equity when a trigger point is reached.
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