David Cameron Seconds Mervyn King's Call for disclosure

In a Telegraph article,  David Cameron seconded Mervyn King and said banks must disclose their Greek exposure.

[He] urged European leaders to force their banks to disclose their exposure to Greek debt as fears over the sovereign debt crisis disrupted markets again.

The Prime Minister also called for national governments to ensure that banks are properly capitalised and prepared for more shocks. 

Speaking at the European Union leaders' summit in Brussels, Mr Cameron said: "All European countries need to use the time that we have to strengthen banks and bank balance sheets and make sure they are meeting all of the requirements so that they are strong and can withstand any problems and difficulties." 

He added: "Banks right across Europe that have exposure to Greece... every bank needs to make absolutely clear what its exposure is."

As regular readers of this blog know, it is not just the banks' current exposure to Greece that needs to be disclosed, but also the rest of their current asset and liability-level data.

It is only with this data that market participants can determine who is solvent and who is not solvent.

It is only with this data that market participants can examine the various ways that contagion could possibly spread through the financial system.

It is only after doing this type of analysis that market participants can adjust both the price and amount of their exposures to reflect the risk of these exposures.

It is only after this adjustment has been made that contagion is controlled and regulators do not have to worry about which market participants are absorbing the losses.

It is clear from Mr. Cameron's statement that he understands the benefits of disclosure under the FDR Framework.