Over at Reuters UK, an Oppenheimer & Co. banking analyst has warned that the new credit card rules meant to go into effect on July 1, 2010, will have the unintended consequence of "reducing liquidity at a time when consumers need it most."
- The analyst expects lenders to pull back well over $2 trillion of lines over the next 18 months as a result of risk aversion, funding challenges and the just finalized regulatory changes. This means available consumer liquidity in the form of credit card lines is expected to decline by 45 percent over the same period, Whitney said.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/bankingfinancial-SP/idUKBNG34495920081219