Alternative lenders and hedge funds are swooping in to pick up deposits at 70c on the dollar. We can picture politicians and central banks in US, Britain, Europe and Canada working the midnight shift to pull together a solution and successfully take over the liabilities of SVB and close the FDIC file asap and before next week’s market open. [] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-11/hedge-funds-banks-offer-to-buy-deposits-as-svb-fails-reports Oaktree is among hedge funds that have offered to buy the deposits, with bids ranging from 60 cents to 80 cents on the dollar, Semafor said, citing people familiar with the matter. The bids reflect a range of expectations … Continue reading Silicon Valley Bank liquidation is proceeding quickly so far

Regulators and supervisors must act now to strengthen the prudential framework. This from the IMF blog and quoted below. Here is the summary under the following heading to actions than need to be taken according to IMF. In general I agree but would flush out more and in particular focus on the known common activities I would expect to see in any Bank or Regulators CyberStrategy. Broadly the IMF proposes the right things for a reactive strategy, but what pro-active measures are needed. I would have included the foreword looking elements I documented here. on “Zero Trust and persistence theory” … Continue reading Mounting Cyber Threats Mean Financial Firms Urgently Need Better Safeguards

As this Bloomberg piece puts it: “One bank folds, another wobbles and Wall Street asks if it’s a crisis” before going on to question: “Could this be the start of a much bigger problem?” “Rising interest rates have left banks laden with low interest bonds that can’t be sold in a hurry without losses. So if too many customers tap their deposits at once, it risks a vicious cycle.” It’s hit EU banks (their shares are set for their biggest drop since June) and also banks in the UK: HSBC, Barclays, NatWest, Standard Chartered and Lloyds have all seen losses … Continue reading Could this be the start of a much bigger problem?” For Banks

National People’s Congress (NPC), voted unanimously in the Great Hall of the People for the 69-year-old Xi Jingping He has centralized power at a moment in time that China has many significant problems and risks not least of which are created by American policy. Is Xi the problem or American policy. My iPhones and macs will cost more as Apple mitigates risk by moving to Hyberdad. This is one of many American made cost increases to one supply chain. BEIJING, March 10 (Reuters) – Xi Jinping secured a precedent-breaking third term as president of China on Friday during a parliamentary … Continue reading National People’s Congress voted unanimously for Xi Jingping third term

Thomas Hale in Shanghai FT. Significantly large drops in China economy suggest worldwide impact. Thomas Hale in Shanghai FT Prices in China rose at their slowest pace in a year in February, tempering expectations for an economic rebound. Consumer prices added 1 per cent, the smallest rise in 12 months. Producer prices fell 1.4 per cent after four consecutives months of declines. Both readings missed economists’ expectations. While the low reading was affected by food prices and partly attributed to the timing of Chinese new year, it also brought echoes of the consistently weak consumer demand under the country’s pandemic-era … Continue reading Chinese CPI inflation hits slowest pace in 12 months as demand lags

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