This week, financial markets were spooked by the write-down of Additional Tier 1 securities of Credit Suisse. Soon after the writedown, a discussion ensued regarding its legitimacy. One camp argues that investors in these securities should have read the instruction manual. See the pointy opinion piece in IFR by Prasad Gollakota, the former co-head of… Read More What happened to the whipping boy of bank capital?
And what does it mean for one bank in particular? Last week, audit firm KPMG published its quarterly Financial Institutions Performance Survey (or FIPS). It featured the deteriorating profitability of New Zealand’s banks. Bad news of course, and the New Zealand financial press quickly jumped on the survey. Radio New Zealand printed a headline sporting… Read More Eyes Wide Shut: Did Bank Capital Grow under RBNZ’s Governor Orr?
Tomorrow at noon, the RBNZ will reveal its bank capital plans. After many years, the RBNZ will likely decide to increase capital requirements to 17 percent for all banks, with a 1 percent add-on for systemically important banks. Having contributed to capital rules for the Basel Committee and the European Union, for me, most of… Read More RBNZ's capital proposal, the grand finale …
Once in a while I meet bankers and bank regulators, sometimes over a cup of coffee, sometimes over a glass of Pinot Noir. In fact, I will attend an event with RBNZ’s Adrian Orr tomorrow. He will speak at the brand new PwC centre in Wellington. When it comes to bank capital, the narrative shared… Read More When will the RBNZ admit its capital ratio definitions are bent? (And copy APRA’s plan to straighten them?)
In March 2009, the International Accounting Standards Board started an ambitious plan to make accounting for banks easier to understand. In no less than 97 pages, the IABS laid out its plan to reduce complexity in the reporting of financial instruments.* At the time, the IASB did the right thing. The standard in force was too complex.… Read More No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy
Kiwibank’s capital cock-up took an unexpected turn this week when the bank made another extraordinary announcement. On Friday, the bank let us know that its parents will bail out the bank with an infusion of $247 million of common equity. Sheesh, I thought only Italy did bail-outs! Infusing equity capital is the last thing a… Read More Kiwibank puts its money where its mouth should be
On 15 March, New Zealand Kiwibank issued two odd statements regarding their Basel III compliant (or is it compliant) capital instruments. The announcements raised the prospect of disqualification of two capital instruments: the Tier 2 convertible subordinated bond issued on 6 June 2014 (Tier 2 Bond); and the Additional Tier 1 perpetual bond issued on 27 May… Read More Free rider problems and tax bills? The Kiwibank capital cock-up
This week, the EBA and BCBS published the Basel III monitoring results. They show a further improvement of European banks’ capital positions, largely fulfilling the future regulatory capital requirements, with only a very small number of banks suffering from potential capital shortfalls. I found Figure 9 of the EBA report interesting. It shows the evolution… Read More That feeling when you notice that EU leverage ratio requirements are at risk
The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today the periodical update to its Risk Dashboard summarizing the main risks and vulnerabilities in the banking sector on the basis of the evolution of a set of Risk Indicators (RI) across the EU. You really have to critically analyse this report, as it contains mixed messages on the capitalization… Read More EBA updates its Risk Dashboard
It spooked the markets for good reasons, but the leaked EC document on the merger of TLAC and MREL did not receive the attention that it deserves. Yes, Reuters reported on the leaked Information Note from the Commission Services for the European Commission Expert Group on Banking, Payments and Insurance. However I am not sure… Read More Is the European Commission phasing out MREL?
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