(Jan 17): Standard Chartered Plc chief executive officer Bill Winters said the US was running the risk of investors snubbing its debt as politicians fail to get a grip on the country’s ballooning deficit.

“There is very little sign of fiscal discipline from either party right now, which is I think concerning, but reality finds ways of biting,” said Winters, speaking in a Bloomberg Television interview from the World Economic Forum in Davos. Winters said the US could be hit by “a little bit of a buyers’ boycott” if it didn’t get its house in order.

“A failed auction would certainly be a message,” said Winters, while noting that the most plausible driver for an event like that would be new capital rules for banks that US regulators are planning to implement in the coming years.

“The degree to which it hits the trading books, which would have the effect of withdrawing capital from a market which is already pretty stressed. So, I think that it’s much more likely to a technical thing than a fiscal thing,” said Winters.

The budget deficit widened to US$510 billion (RM2.4 trillion) in the first quarter of the 2024 fiscal year, according to Treasury Department data published last week.

Winters worked at JPMorgan Chase & Co for nearly three decades and co-ran its investment banking arm before leaving in 2009. He has led Standard Chartered since 2015, making him the longest serving boss of a major UK bank.