North America

As well as higher capital requirements for regional US banks, the policy response to the Silicon Valley Bank collapse will likely include increasing the Deposit Insurance Fund, which bigger banks will have to pay for.

Recent events call into question most of the core assumptions behind the rules designed to keep banks safe through a liquidity squeeze.

Bankers have been at pains to stress how different the world is today from the dark days of 2008: higher capital; more liquidity; lower credit risk and all that. But while individual banks may be safer than they were, collectively they arguably now face a worse existential crisis. Societies face awkward questions about how they value the utility of the banking sector – and how they should pay for it.

The big foreign-exchange banks are focussing on delivering enhanced functionality to encourage greater use of their single-dealer platforms.

Short-term government bonds have re-emerged as a viable option for corporate treasurers seeking returns on their cash, but recent events in the US banking sector highlight the risks of long-dated exposures.

Solar thermal technology could offer cheap carbon-free heat for manufacturers. But tech developers are stuck in a financing gap between venture capital and project finance that will be harder to fill after recent bank failures.

Interest rate risk management has been complicated by the fall in yields after the US bailout of SVB’s depositors. Clients may feel that hedging chiefly benefits Wall Street dealers rather than themselves.

It is not clear how the SVB collapse will change banking; but it is clear that the lack of supervision of smaller banks allowed systemic risk to spread worryingly fast.

HSBC runs towards the storm as others are fleeing it.

The collapsing share price of Silicon Valley Bank, triggered by the realization of a loss on a portfolio sale, puts pressure on other US banks that have built up similar books of investments.

Patents are a high-profile demonstration of a bank’s commitment to innovation, but they are not the only option for those looking to encourage new ways of thinking.

The notion that different businesses can produce healthy results by being under the same roof underpins Goldman Sachs’ diversification strategy. After failing to make that work at the first time of asking, its second attempt looks more derivative – but is perhaps likelier to succeed.

Tokenization is spreading fast. Regulated finance is finally embracing blockchain technology just as most cryptocurrencies stand revealed as overleveraged Ponzi schemes. The institutional herd is moving, but can the blockchains they are shifting onto bear the load?

Firms betting on interest-rate declines will be hoping that inflation does not force central banks to raise the cost of borrowing again.

Big transaction banks are responding to corporate customer demand for sustainability linked supplier-finance programmes by extending the geographical availability and range of the products they offer.

For the past few years, Goldman Sachs has dangled the promise of something new – a diversification in its business mix that would give shareholders a reason to finally re-rate the stock. But while the firm still has the glint of Goldman on the surface, disappointing earnings are revealing something less valuable underneath. Can its second investor day now fix the legacy of the first?

While no one is willing to bet the farm on anything other than dollar depreciation in 2023, mixed messages from the Fed, and economic and political uncertainty elsewhere mean the greenback could yet defy expectations.

Banks and corporates are taking a variety of approaches to mitigating the impact of rising interest rates, quantitative tightening and economic uncertainty on the availability of liquidity.

A report by a US short-seller hammered the stock of India’s Adani Group companies just as one of them tried to raise $2.5 billion in a follow-on. It was not just Adani under attack here, but Modi’s vision of corporate India.

Some leading FX banks have struggled to stay competitive in forwards, swaps and swaptions thanks to SA-CCR rules, but compressing portfolios helps.

A decade ago, the bank opted to go long on more durable sources of income – notably wealth management. Its standout 2022 financials are a clear sign of the benefits of long-term planning.

Appetite for corporate issuance remains robust as investors dismiss recession fears and take on credit exposure.

With little likelihood of currency volatility subsiding any time soon, corporates continue to face difficult decisions when it comes to how best to mitigate FX risk.

Some issuers are grabbing the opportunities offered by a new capital markets year. Others would do well to face reality sooner rather than later.

The billionaire Winklevoss twins and DCG CEO Barry Silbert have been squabbling over $900 million of frozen customer assets. The SEC has just banged their heads together.

The regulated US bank lost 70% of its deposits in a few weeks. But while that run shows the risks of banking the crypto industry, the key lesson is how it is still standing.

After years at zero, rapid Fed hikes last year led to sharp increases in NII and NIM. But it is not all good news.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has lifted the lid on some eye-popping charges against the former CFO of a special purpose acquisition company.

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried faces the full wrath of US authorities, as rival agencies compete to make the most hyperbolic charges against the former crypto exchange head. Death by metaphor could be his provisional sentence.

Societe Generale and AllianceBernstein may look like an equities odd couple. Leveraging Societe Generale’s derivatives franchise is key to the new joint venture, as is maintaining AllianceBernstein’s reputation for independence.

State Street’s Chip Lowry, a board member and former chair of the Foreign Exchange Professionals Association, talks to Euromoney about his new role on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s market risk advisory committee.

The chief executive of JPMorgan’s Onyx blockchain business explains why it has been a long slog, and where the interest lies today after the crypto collapse.

Daniel Zelikow, chairman of JPMorgan Development Finance Institution’s governing board, on private-sector development finance, EM policy risk and funding bankable assets.

Vocal members of the US political right are not happy, creating new laws that ban state investors from backing companies with an ESG agenda. Several fund managers have been quick to take up their cause.

European banks have raced far ahead of their US peers on sustainability. But the continent is now facing an energy emergency, creating pressure from some corners to reverse investment declines in oil and gas. Can Europe’s banks remain frontrunners in sustainable finance in today’s fragile geopolitical environment?

Elon Musk is full of praise for his bankers at Morgan Stanley. It’s a shame his $44 billion Twitter deal is set to cost the bank money rather than earning a tip for good service.

The weakness of the pound and strength of the dollar has implications for companies on both sides of the Atlantic.

UK pension fund hedges have failed the first real stress test in a new era of rising interest rates. Bankers are surprisingly relaxed about the implications for other threats to global systemic stability.

David Solomon is having to field some scepticism as he changes Goldman Sachs’s approach to its loss-making consumer banking operation and restructures the firm. But nothing that has been developed is going to waste, and recognising that a business might sit better elsewhere is simply good sense.

Regulators often rely on giving relief when market participants or products fall between different jurisdictions or certification is unavoidably delayed. But one US regulator is getting fed up with having to do the same thing over and over again, and is calling for rules to be fixed instead of being endlessly patched up.

The curious case of the cows that didn’t exist.

Kotak Investment Advisors, the special situations arm of Kotak Mahindra, could have $9 billion under management by early next year. It is led by Srini Sriniwasan, who has applied skills learned at Goldman Sachs to develop the business to where it is today.

SEC chair Gary Gensler’s literally getting vibes that there’s something sus in the crypto wave.

The things that attracted Lone Star to Bank of Cyprus are present in banks in Greece and elsewhere in peripheral Europe. If other private equity-like investors take an interest, domestic political blessing could be the key to success.

Not long ago, correspondent banking was as basic as finance got. These days it is compliance and cost-heavy and in the crosshairs of aggressive and powerful regulators. Little wonder that so many banks are exiting small or fragile markets – actions that help their bottom line but hinder efforts at financial inclusion.

Removing UK bonus caps and undermining the BoE could exacerbate a sterling crisis while entrenching US IB dominance.

An extraordinary series of data protection failures at Morgan Stanley’s wealth management business has seen the SEC fine the company $35 million.

As the world’s biggest investment banks prepare to report third-quarter earnings in October, the signals are bad across the board.

If you want to get ahead in investment banking it is time to hit the beach.

Anti-ESG boycotts are unlikely to cross the Atlantic.

Bank of Cyprus has its quirks – such as a sanctioned oligarch as a large shareholder – but it is far from the only European bank with good potential still shunned by mainstream investors.

China’s decision to let US regulators audit its New York-listed corporates is a shock. It’s a U-turn, a climbdown and a sign, more than anything, of China’s enduring financial frailty.

The $100 million line of credit from Dai holders to a Pennsylvania community bank to support commercial loans should have been a breakthrough, but further deals are on hold as the crypto purists fight back against the pragmatists seeking more exposure to real-world assets rather than digital ones.

Wall Street’s junior human capital resources may not appreciate that there is now a bear market for their output, and that could spell tough times ahead.

Bank shares have failed to close a valuation gap with fintech competitors despite the prospect of higher interest income from rate hikes. Will the Fed’s newly tough stance on inflation-busting finally give bank stocks some respect?

A US climate bill filled with green credits will create business for banks and provide relief from the backlash against ESG products.

West Virginia state treasurer Riley Moore has opened another front in a campaign by Republican officials in the US against banks that promote ESG policies.

UN CFO Taskforce member Jill Klindt talks to Euromoney about ESG disclosure challenges for SMEs and the need for all firms to produce consistent, auditable data.

Groups such as Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, CDPQ and British Columbia Investment were forerunners in the development of new private-market asset classes, particularly infrastructure. Euromoney traces the evolution of the funds’ approaches and scale to the point where they are desired partners for private assets worldwide.

Supposedly disappointing second-quarter earnings should have surprised no one and Morgan Stanley’s were quite good.