Mr. Simon Carswell:

It would have allowed the bank to raise more funding. That would have helped the bank; it would have made the bank more stable. However, it also would have allowed the bank to use the money it had borrowed by selling the bond through passing it on in lending to customers. On one point, one could say that it makes the bank stable. If the money just sits there, that is fine as it is stable. However, if it uses it to lend more money to customers, clearly it is increasing its risk depending on where the money goes.