Fresh RBNZ Dashboard data shows New Zealand’s largest banks on track to meet increasing capital ratio requirements

Today’s updated RBNZ Financial Strength Dashboard shows that New Zealand’s largest banks are on track to meet the increasing capital ratio requirements. This after a temporary set-back in the first quarter of the year, when new rules on the calculation of risk weights kicked in. Westpac was particularly hard hit by the new calculations, but… Read More Fresh RBNZ Dashboard data shows New Zealand’s largest banks on track to meet increasing capital ratio requirements

‘Worst Bank Scenario’ a book that should spark a discussion on bank supervision

My review of a fascinating book on swaps, derivatives, and Dutch supervisory shenanigans by Hester Bais and Wink Sabée The book by Hester Bais and Wink Sabée documents poor conduct by banks in the Netherlands during the first decades of the century. Warning: for non-Dutch readers, the book is only in Dutch now, but I… Read More ‘Worst Bank Scenario’ a book that should spark a discussion on bank supervision

The Conversation: “Why now would be a good time for the Reserve Bank to publish stress test results for individual banks”

In my latest post on The Conversation, I argue in favour of disclosure of stress test results of individual banks. The current hot housing market creates fertile ground for speculation about the financial stability of the New Zealand banking system. See the latest addendum to the RBNZ Financial Stability Report, which creates the impression that… Read More The Conversation: “Why now would be a good time for the Reserve Bank to publish stress test results for individual banks”

Fresh RBNZ dashboard data confirms New Zealand’s banks are resilient – again

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand just published its latest Financial Strength Dashboard data. It is now up to date until 31 December of last year. A summary Capital went up. Largely thanks to restrictions on distributions and perhaps a donation from a generous parent bank, aggregate CET1 ratios are now well over twelve percent.… Read More Fresh RBNZ dashboard data confirms New Zealand’s banks are resilient – again

Badwill accounting

Against the backdrop of recent European bank mergers, it is worthwhile examining the effects of acquisitions on regulatory capital. This is interesting because many European banks trade below book value. Normally, firms that acquire other firms pay a premium over book value to purchase the target firm. This premium is called goodwill. However, with the… Read More Badwill accounting