Widespread reform of financial markets and setting up "living wills" for banks should allow a bank in trouble to "fail more smoothly" in future, British bank Barclays Plc's chief executive said on Tuesday.
John Varley also said once reform of the industry was complete the British taxpayer should not have to have to step in to save any bank.
Varley defended "big" banks and said there has been no correlation between a bank's size or shape and its propensity to fail, and when a bank hits trouble, smaller ones were more vulnerable.
"It is dangerous to make the assumption that narrow is good," Varley said as he was quizzed by British lawmakers as part of a probe into the causes and lessons from the financial crisis.
Regulators should focus on reducing the threat of failure and making any future failure more orderly, Varley said.
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