John Stumpf
"We cannot continue to have the fiscal 'flavor of the month' dominate the policy agenda."
Chairman, president and CEO of Wells Fargo & Co., arguing that until the country starts to tackle its huge debt, a lack of consumer confidence will undermine the economy
Lorraine Buerger
"In 2011, loss-share agreements were as valuable as silver. Last year, they probably became gold. This year, they're probably diamonds."
A partner at the law firm Schiff Hardin, on how it is increasingly rare to see deals for failed banks in which the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. agrees to help shoulder loan losses
Bob Diamond
"My first reaction, which is still my reaction today, is, 'He doesn't have the authority to do that!'"
Former Barclays CEO, discussing how the British government-specifically, Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England-forced his ouster in the wake of the Libor scandal
Richard Lipstein
"While you can scare the bejesus out of a 22-year-old, the smart ones will know that you can't stop someone from managing their career."
Managing director at the executive-search firm Gilbert Tweed, on Morgan Stanley rescinding a rule that barred its first-year bankers from talking to recruiters
Warren Buffett
"It's likely to be the shot heard 'round the world. But that doesn't mean the world will end."
Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, on how he expects the market to react when interest rates start to rise
Robert Wilmers
"When the rules are easy to understand and follow, there's a greater likelihood they'll be followed. We are, unfortunately, seeing the emergence of unprecedented-and unhelpful- regulatory complexity."
Chairman and CEO of M&T Bank Corp., in his annual letter to shareholders
James Kowalski
"There are literally thousands of borrowers who have been trying to hand the house back to the bank and they won't take it."
Executive director, JacksonvilleArea Legal Aid, on the rise of 'zombie foreclosures,' in which a bank halts the seizure of a property to avoid the cost of maintaining it
Jeremy Rosenblum
"This is their way of killing the product."
A partner at the law firm Ballard Spahr, on regulators' new guidelines for deposit-advance loans
