Top bankers hopeful debt crisis can be solved

Some of the world’s top bankers are increasingly hopeful that the eurozone’s debt crisis can be resolved, and confident of a deal to ensure Greece’s now inevitable debt default will be orderly.

Participants at a private meeting in Davos, which included chiefs executive from JPMorgan Chase & Co, Barclays, Citigroup and UBS, acknowledged there had been significant progress. Most pointed to the European Central Bank’s launching last month of half a trillion euro in cheap three-year loans as a possible turning point after almost three years of market chaos that has threatened some of the sector’s biggest players.

“2011 was a year of great fear around (sovereign debt risk). Going into 2012 we feel somewhat more comfortable, because progress has been made,” Barclays’ chief executive, Bob Diamond, said on the sidelines of the closed-door meeting. He said the overall mood was cautious given the growth challenges the eurozone was facing.