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“You won’t be able to make a judgment about what’s systemic and what’s not until you know the nature of the shock.”
Timothy Geithner, US Treasury secretary, questioning the Financial Stability Oversight Council's definition of too big to fail as banks with more than $50b in assets. 

The following are notes from our Monday morning meeting.

Moody’s and S&P threatened to lower the US sovereign rating unless it reduces national debt.

Bank of Japan governor Masaaki Shirakawa was named as the vice-chairman of the Bank for International Settlements, replacing German economist Hans Tietmeyer.

Argentina’s central bank has quadrupled the deposits insurance guarantee to $30,000.

The Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority gave a license to J.P. Morgan to arrange credit facilities, investment deals and to provide custody services.

Korean regulators told Kookmin Bank to sell its 11.2% stake in parent KB Financial by September. It swapped a 0.61% stake worth $148m with POSCO, and will sell more to local and foreign firms.

The People’s Bank of China is liberalising overseas investment of renminbi, allowing the citizens of Wenzhou to spend up to $200m a year and companies to invest and acquire more freely.

Taiwan’s Fubon Financial is offering $188m for the 28% of its Hong Kong unit that it doesn’t own.

Cooperative Bank, Myanmar’s second-largest private lender, is believed to be close to insolvency after a bank run, started by rumours that chairman Khin Maung Aye is on bad terms with ruling generals.

Malaysia’s Maybank and Japan’s Mizuho will partner on syndicated loans, structured finance, trade finance, derivatives, international operations, cash management and Islamic finance.

State Bank of India has set up a JV with Bharti Airtel, and ICICI Bank has partnered with Vodafone, to offer mobile banking in villages.

In floods in Australia’s Queensland state, ANZ closed eight branches, CBA closed 27, NAB closed 29 and Westpac—which set up a temporary mobile bank at an evacuation centre—closed 18.