CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp Chief Executive Brian Moynihan said on Monday he supports new global capital requirements for banks released over the weekend by the Basel Committee on Bank Supervision.
The head of the largest U.S. consumer bank, speaking at a Bank of America Merrill Lynch investor conference in San Francisco, said he is a "strong supporter" of requiring banks hold a higher quantity and higher quality of capital after the 2008 financial crisis.
However, he cautioned that new rules must still encourage economic growth.
"There is a need to strike a balance of protecting against losses while not harming future prosperity," Moynihan said.
Moynihan has been a key industry proponent of the industry's regulatory overhaul, including throwing his support behind much of the financial reform bill passed by the U.S. Congress in July.
Separately, Moynihan said the U.S. economic recovery remains sluggish, with credit-worthy businesses and consumers hesitant to borrow.
He said the U.S. economy was now in the process of trying to "thread the needle" between a sustained and healthy recovery or a more halting, uneven one.
(Reporting by Joe Rauch. Editing by Robert MacMillan)
