Regulators were too slow to react to the serious problems in the financial sector over the past few years, central bank president Nout Wellink told television show Buitenhof on Sunday.

‘There was no quick response. We thought too often that we had time to solve the problems,’ Wellink said. He steps down from the bank after 14 years at the helm at the end of the month.
‘One of the most important lessons of the past few years is that you have to intervene as soon as possible if you get the feeling things are going wrong,’ he said.
Greece
Wellink also said a restructuring of the Greek national debt should not be ruled out, although now is not the time.
‘You should not talk about restructuring until you have your housekeeping under control,’ Wellink said. The central bank chief said he has faith in the action already undertaken by Greece, such as cost cutting and the €50bn privatisation programme.