Tag: banks

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Europe’s big banks need a bailout

David Weidner, Marketwatch: “Give me a swap line on currency and I will bet the farm….I am shocked that the market is rallying this much today on this news [European markets up about 10pc in dollar terms].”

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David Weidner interviewed by Evan Newmark of Mean Street.

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China, in Surprising Shift, Takes Steps to Spur Bank Lending – NYTimes.com

HONG KONG — Faced with an economy that appears to be slowing faster than economists forecast even a month ago, the Chinese government on Wednesday unexpectedly reversed its yearlong move toward tighter monetary policy and took an important step to encourage banks to resume lending.

The central bank said that commercial banks would be allowed to keep a slightly lower percentage [0.5pc] of their deposits as reserves at the central bank. The change, which will take effect on Monday, means that commercial banks will have more money to lend, which could help to rekindle economic growth and a slumping real estate market.

via China, in Surprising Shift, Takes Steps to Spur Bank Lending – NYTimes.com.

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Central Banks Take Coordinated Action – WSJ.com

WASHINGTON — The world’s major central banks launched a joint action to provide cheap, emergency U.S. dollar loans to banks in Europe and elsewhere, a sign of growing alarm among policy makers about stresses in Europe and in the global financial system. The Fed, ECB and other central banks took coordinated action to support the global financial system as Europe’s rolling debt crisis continues to trouble markets. The coordinated action doesn’t directly address Europe’s government-debt and budget woes. Instead, it is aimed at alleviating the impact of those troubles on global markets. Moreover, it raises the prospect of other steps by central bankers to prevent a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis.

via Central Banks Take Coordinated Action – WSJ.com.

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20 Banks That Will Get Crushed If The PIIGS Go Bust

Now it looks like Commerzbank could be the next bank to fall in the crisis, which we found to have exposure to the PIIGS second only to Dexia of non-peripheral European banks in this exposure stress test.

….We took a list of the largest European banks by assets and compared their market cap, common equity, and total exposure to PIIGS debt (thank you for the bank statistics, EBA!). Then we calculated exposure to PIIGS debt (sovereign and private) as a percentage of the banks’ common equity. (Notice that HSBC, ING, and even Societe Generale are all absent from this list.)

So far our track record is pretty good–we predicted that Dexia was the most vulnerable bank outside of the PIIGS back in July. If the eurozone crisis continues to escalate, we will see more and more banks bow to the pressure of exposure and become unable to borrow money.

via 20 Banks That Will Get Crushed If The PIIGS Go Bust.

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The credit crunch is coming – macrobusiness.com.au

The SMH has [a] very important story this morning on the funding crisis that is bearing down on the major banks:

Australian banks are preparing for a potential freeze in global funding markets as Europe’s worsening stresses threaten to send the world’s financial markets into a tailspin. Renewed funding pressures for the big banks, which need to raise $16.3 billion over the next two months, are likely to make it tougher for business and some consumers to access credit.

via The credit crunch is coming – macrobusiness.com.au | macrobusiness.com.au.

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EU Banks Struggle to Attract Deposits – WSJ.com

Deposit levels at five of Spain’s top six banks declined in the third quarter, while five of Italy’s largest lenders also reported declines, according to a report by analysts at Citigroup. In some cases, individuals pulling their money out of a bank are instead buying the bank’s bonds, which have offered hefty interest rates lately. But corporate clients, who find it relatively simple to move cash from one international bank to another, appear to have been especially aggressive in scaling back their deposits at southern European banks. Spain and Italy’s largest banks each reported declines of at least 10% in the quarter that ended Sept. 30.

via EU Banks Struggle to Attract Deposits – WSJ.com.

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Cut in Europe Bank Lending Has Wide Impact – WSJ.com

European banks in recent years dramatically boosted lending to emerging markets and were among the biggest cross-border lenders in these countries. Their retreat has tightened credit in industries—from aircraft to media to mining — squeezing economies already feeling the effects of reduced demand from the developed world for their exports….”We’re in a very vulnerable position that’s definitely impacting global growth,” Gail Kelly, chief executive of Australia’s Westpac Bank said at The Wall Street Journal CEO Council last week. “It’s certainly impacting in my country and in Asia.”

via Cut in Europe Bank Lending Has Wide Impact – WSJ.com.

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Banks Face Funding Stress – WSJ.com

LONDON—European banks, increasingly concerned about their ability to access funding, are devising complex and potentially risky new deals that enable them to continue borrowing from the European Central Bank…..

They also are a sign that struggling banks across Europe are preparing for a period of prolonged reliance on financial lifelines from the ECB. The Continent’s intensifying financial crisis has made it difficult for many banks to obtain funding from customary market sources.

via Banks Face Funding Stress – WSJ.com.

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Banks to dump more Italian debt | Ticker | IFRe

With the ECB providing a bid for Italian bonds that might not otherwise exist, board members at some of Europe’s largest bank say now is the time to accelerate disposals. Many are also reversing long-standing policies of buying into new Italian bond issues, denying Rome an important base of support.

“Our traditional buying days are no longer,” said one board member at a European bank, one of Italy’s 10 biggest creditors, who added that the bank has also sold off previous bond purchases. “Unless there is more certainty on Italians changing direction, it will be very tough for them to find buyers.”

via Banks to dump more Italian debt | Ticker | IFRe.

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Watch Europe’s Bank Deposits, Not Its Political Moves – James Wood

People are now moving euro-denominated deposits out of Greece, Portugal and even Italy in protection against a possible exit of these countries from the European Monetary Union…….What is the effect of the movement of deposits? The banks losing their deposits will soon be facing a liquidity crisis. A publicly understood liquidity crisis leads to bank failures. In short, the focus on political considerations misses the looming problem of a liquidity crisis and bank failures.

via Watch Europe’s Bank Deposits, Not Its Political Moves – Seeking Alpha.

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