European bankers meet NYC Mayor Bloomberg on financial summit; analysis

1. Wide of meeting between European and American bankers 2. New York mayor Michael Bloomberg (second from left) and London mayor Boris Johnson (fourth from left) 3. Bloomberg addressing meeting 4. Bloomberg and British Bankers Association chief Angela Knight entering news conference 5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Angela Knight, Chief Executive, British Bankers Association: "I'm afraid I do have these concerns about underpinning. What does that mean? I think it can mean, given as an explicit guarantee, it can mean a situation arising which could then subsequently be a lot more difficult both for the country and indeed the taxpayers. So my understanding is that Germany still remains implicit." 6. Wide of news conference 7. SOUNDBITE: (English) Michael Bloomberg, New York Mayor: "We are all guilty. The enemy is us. We have for a long time been willing to expand an economy around the world greater than everybody knew was sustainable for ever." 8. Wider of Citywire offices 9. Citywire financial analyst, Charlie Parker, working at desk 10. SOUNDBITE: (English) Charlie Parker, Citywire financial analyst: "If they ever had to really be called on to provide this money to banks, it would be massively debilitating to British national debt." (Q: What would happen if the government were called upon to meet its obligations?) "Well, the amount of debt the government has would rise and rise and rise and rise, it would probably have to stem that by encouraging spending and hiking inflation up." 11. Various of Britain's houses of parliament 12. Wide of London skyline and River Thames STORYLINE: The head of the British Bankers Association issued a warning on Monday against the possibility that the UK government may offer an unlimited guarantee to savers if a bank fails. The prospect of such a move rose over the weekend after a number of European countries issued one hundred percent guarantees. Angela Knight, chief executive of the British Bankers Association, said an unlimited guarantee ran the risk of making the situation "a lot more difficult". She was speaking at a news conference with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg in London, following a conference of European and American bankers. So far, Britain has raised its deposit guarantee only to 50-thousand pounds (87,900 US dollars), but remains under pressure to guarantee all deposits. Bloomberg said the entire banking industry, together with political leaders, were to blame for the financial crisis. Financial analyst, Charlie Parker, of Citywire said it would be "massively debilitating" if the British government offered a hundred percent guarantee to savers. He added that the government would have to increase spending, resulting in higher inflation. European governments struggled to find a coordinated response to the crisis sweeping financial markets on Monday, as one country after another announced sweeping deposit guarantees on their own to try and shore up their banks. Iceland joined Denmark in becoming the latest countries to declare a deposit guarantee on Monday after a startling announcement by German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday that her government would guarantee all private bank savings and CDs held in the euro zone's single largest economy. Markets responded to the disarray by sinking rapidly, following selloffs in Asia. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown planned a call to Merkel to discuss the crisis, while Alistair Darling, the Treasury chief told lawmakers that European countries must work together to tackle problems in the banking system and that Britain is ready to do "whatever is necessary" to protect banks and depositors. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/a71132bf6050fcb49a8d35ac06c2ef2f Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork