Jerome a Paris:

Putting up your own money usually helps in that respect;

Putting up your own money makes you an investor, alonsgside other investors, and not an intermediary.

That's fine.

It's when you start creating credit on the basis of your capital that the problem starts.

"The future is already here -- it's just not very evenly distributed" William Gibson

Just to be clear, I have no objection to the form of banking/"credit intermediation" that you describe and aim to practise, since I see that as "service provision".

The credit intermediation I see as unsustainable mathematically - and I am not commenting on any moral issues - is the Basel I/II style creation of interest-bearing credit.

I am talking about banking reinventing itself as service provision, and I do not see that as inconsistent with your description of your profession of banking.

"The future is already here -- it's just not very evenly distributed" William Gibson