Nordea’s CEO Christian Clausen says the idea that politicians automatically buoy up irresponsible and rash banks is not a good one.

“The bad banks should go bankrupt and customers suffer. That is just not something that has been politicaly acceptable as it would hit the customers,” says Clausen in an interview with the management magazine Lederne.

He adds that bankrupt airline or building company customers are not saved by the state.

“So you should choose a building contractor who survives. The self-discipline in choosing a bank you believe in has been cut away by the ‘too big to fail’ principle,” Clausen says, adding that he hopes that international regulation will allow banks to fail in future crises.

“I feel that would be sensible. So when you begin to see the imaginative ads for financial products during the next boom. You should have a critical reaction – just as you do in other areas,” he says.

Although Clausen accepts that banks and the rest of the financial sector have a good measure of the responsibility for the financial crisis, he doesn’t think Nordea should be made a scapegoat.

“Nordea was not the reason for the crisis. I have difficulty in seeing what our many thousands of employees have to apologise for. But we listen to the world around us, we understand the joint responsibility of banks and we will be part of making sure that we avoid a new crisis,” Clausen says.