“..Even as civilisation continues to march on, we need to return to our roots from time to time and ask ourselves whether we are contributing to the happiness of the human race. If we blindly pursue profits to an excessive degree, it results in many things going wrong … Before the crisis, it was said that the profitability of Japanese banks was too low but it is clear -with hindsight- that the profitability of western banks was too high. Financial Innovation is fine as long as it leads to greater social welfare, but financial institutions must always remember their roots as providers of security in the economic infracstructure…”

NOBUO KUROYANAGI Head of MUFJ Financial Group: the largest bank in Japan

 

FT , STR/AFP/Getty Images