Ex Credit Suisse exec says shrink banks -paper

FRANKFURT, July 25 (Reuters) - The simplest way to regulate the global banking system is to limit the size of bank balance sheets, former Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) and Dresdner Bank board member Leonhard Fischer told German weekly Welt am Sonntag.

The financial crisis revealed some banks were too big for one national regulator to rescue, Fischer told the Sunday paper.

"All the complex approaches to bank regulation have failed. We have never had as much regulation as today. The upshot is that banks hire a couple lawyers more to circumvent the rules," Fischer was quoted as saying.

"For me it's about size. I would limit the size of balance sheets."

Fischer acknowledged the size limit is an imperfect solution, adding one should not be deterred by the argument that smaller banks would mean fewer loans for the real economy.

Fischer quit Credit Suisse in March 2007 to join RHJ (RHJI.BR) International, a vehicle for private equity firm Ripplewood Holdings. (Reporting by Edward Taylor; editing by Karen Foster)