Banking

Introduction The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) will now be backstop-of-last-resort to the Eurozone banking system, in addition to backstopping the Eurozone member states and the currency itself. Its resources have…

At a dinner early in July the CEO of NatWest bank group (formerly known as RBS) Dame Allison Rose told a senior BBC journalist that the high-net-worth subsidiary of the…

Questionable business models in Fintech have been exposed, as predicted, in response to rising interest rates.  In Europe, the UK and US, rates have risen from near zero levels at…

Introduction The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) backstops the euro. Its nominal size is €705 billion but its lending capacity is lower at €500 billion, and the main condition attached to…

UK Consumer Price Inflation remained at 8.7% in May. The Bank of England has raised the cost of overnight money to 5% via increases in its Base Rate, and has…

Since the beginning of March, US regulators have closed and sold three banks: Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic. The failures are the biggest to hit the US…

Introduction Central banks have undertaken many investigations, pilots and proofs-of-concept into Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), proving little beyond the lack of a convincing case in their favour, but unearthing…

Introduction How resilient is the global banking system? Are banks’ capital buffers now much larger than they were going into the Global Financial Crisis of 2007/8, as authorities claim? The…

The template created after the Global Financial Crisis of 2007/8 to shield taxpayers from direct bailouts of failed banks has already folded – authorities dare not use it. The template…

Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) has gone from hero-to-zero in 48 hours. From established bankers to start-ups in the tech, fintech, and biotech industries and to Napa Valley’s premium wineries on…