Former US treasury secretary warns of 'fire' danger in financial system

Washington

THERE is "a lot of dry tinder" in the financial system and not enough attention is being paid to "the fire station" and the ability to cope with a further major crisis, former US treasury secretary Timothy Geithner warned over the weekend in delivering the annual Per Jacobsson lecture.

"Misfortune tends to overwhelm even the best defences," Mr Geithner said. A further crisis might not emerge for decades, he said. But he suggested that regulators need to be better prepared and to have the "right tools" to be able to act if and when a new crisis arises.