Onderpand banken
Vandaag hebben we wel wat brokjes met interessante macro-dingen (Juncker
vindt de schuld van Duitschland zorgwekkend, Merkel
wil wel wat soevereiniteit opgeven, maar Schauble wil dat niet en een belangrijke
IMF persoon is teruggetreden ‘om persoonlijke redenen’), en wat rating
downgrades bij de banken (Moody’s
Downgrades 10 German Lenders, U.S.
Banks Face Contagion Risk From Europe Crisis, Fitch Says.)
Maar voor mij is er maar één thema vanochtend: collateral, of in het Hollands
gezegd: onderpand.
Het onderwerp is hier wel vaker besproken: de draai van slecht naar goed
onderpand zal in mijn ogen voor een tijdelijke ontschulding en uiteindelijk
risicoverlaging in het (wereldwijde) banksysteem zorgen, maar we zitten nu
in een niemandsland waarbij onzekerheid over regelgeving en ontbreken
vanwederzijds vertrouwen voor een gevaarlijke situatie zorgt.
Combineer dat met ‘problemen’ bij de waardering van de bezittingen (zoals
staatsschuld, hypotheken, en beleggingspakketjes met drie- of vierletterige
afkortingen) op de boeken van de banken en je hebt een recept voor
instabiele markten. Veel van dit gevaar zal uiteindelijk via
overheidsingrijpen kunnen, en wellicht ook moeten worden opgelost.
Banken zitten klem
Nu dan het nieuws: de banken zitten met financieringsproblemen en proberen via
het aanbieden van onderpand aan korte-termijnmiddelen te komen
1)Banks
Face Funding Stress - European Institutions Resort to Potentially Risky
Swaps to Generate Liquidity - 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. The banks' maneuvers, which include behind-the-scenes swapping of
assets among financial institutions, could heighten risk across Europe's
already fragile financial system, say some senior industry officials and
regulators.
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. Some banks are
exhausting their supplies of assets, such as European government bonds and
certain types of asset-backed securities, that the ECB accepts as collateral
and that the banks haven't already committed to other uses, according to
bankers and analysts. Others are scrambling to stockpile such assets to
comfort analysts and investors worried about the banks' abilities to weather
a long-term freeze in bank-funding markets.
Voorbeelden: genoemd in het WSJ-artikel: Dexia, maar ook UniCredit wordt
genoemd:
2)UniCredit
seeks wider ECB funding for Italian banks-source - "The CEO of Italy's
UniCredit will ask the European Central Bank at a meeting on Wednesday to
extend access to ECB funding for Italian banks by widening the range of
collateral that can be offered to get funds, a source close to UniCredit
said. Italian banks have increased their reliance on the ECB for cheaper
funding since the summer as Italy was sucked ever depeer into the euro zone
debt crisis and its lenders faced sharply higher funding costs."
Eis: hogere zekerheid
De tegenbeweging is: autoriteiten vragen meer zekerheid bij banken voor
posities die ze innemen. Eerder deze week:
N.Y.
Fed Asks Primary Dealers for More Margin on Some Mortgage Securities -
The Federal Reserve said it will be increasing collateral requirements on 21
primary-dealer banks in transactions dealing with mortgage-backed
securities, in a move that would be aimed at securing an extra layer of
protection against settlement risks with its counterparties.
Gisteren:
RBA
Sets 0.15% Fee for Liquidity Standby; Lifts Repo Margins - The Reserve
Bank of Australia set an annual fee of 15 basis points for financial firms
to access standby funds as the nation moves to adopt global liquidity rules
aimed at averting a repeat of the credit crisis. The facilities are needed
as the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority reiterated today in a
statement that only federal and state government securities can count as
liquid assets under the so-called Basel III rules coming into force in 2015,
while bonds from supranational issuers won’t qualify. (
Vorige week:
ISDA: Govt Bonds No Longer Usable As Collateral For OTC Rate Swaps -
In a move certain to increase transaction costs for Japanese banks, the
International Swaps and Derivatives Association has unofficially decided to
make government bonds unacceptable as collateral for over-the-counter
interest rate swaps, the Nikkei reported in its Friday morning edition. The
change, which is expected to be implemented in steps starting in mid-2012,
means cash and deposits in major currencies will become the only collateral
for that derivatives market. (Dow Jones, geen link)
En het toezicht op de rapportage van de bezittingen wordt ook strenger:
Banks
Face On-Site Capital, Liquidity Checks by Basel Group - Global
regulators will carry out on- site inspections of banks to ensure they have
enough capital and liquidity under rules designed to prevent another
financial crisis. Details of lenders that fall short of the required
standards will be made public, Stefan Ingves, chairman of the Basel
Committee on Banking Supervision, said in prepared remarks for a speech in
San Francisco today.
National authorities will also face checks to make sure they are enforcing the
rules. “The corrosive forces of short memories and supervisory complacency”
must be avoided, Ingves said. “The committee has not previously taken its
assessments to the doorsteps of banks or supervisors. However this is
exactly what it seeks to do.” The Basel committee agreed last year to more
than triple the core capital that banks must hold to guard themselves
against insolvency and also to force them to stockpile easily sellable
assets to survive a short-term funding squeeze.
Vuilnisbank
Ik had het over de oplossingen via de overheid – dat zou in vorm kunnen van
een Bad Bank zoals in Duitsland (!) en Ierland gedaan is.
Spain Opposition People’s Party Mulls ’Bad Bank’, Expansion Says
- Spanish opposition People’s Party advisers are considering the creation of
a so-called bad bank to lift from banks the burden of covering losses linked
to real estate, Expansion reported, citing unnamed party officials. The new
government will make public funds available to clean up financial entities’
balance sheets, Expansion said. Public opinion polls say the People’s Party
may beat the ruling Socialists in a general election on Nov. 20. (Bloomberg,
geen link.)
Als gezegd: een belangrijk onderwerp.
Jacob Jurg is verbonden aan AFS en
verantwoordelijk voor nieuws en research. De informatie in deze
column bevat geen individueel beleggingsadvies of aanbeveling tot het doen
van bepaalde beleggingen.
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