Santander to float Bradford & Bingley?

It is just a bit over one year that the shareholders of B&B got expropriated by the British Government and saw control of the business handed over to Banco Santander shortly afterwards. So it may ruffle a few feathers among the investor community if there is talk that Banco Santander may float a stake in Bradford & Bingley or some other holdings in the UK on the public markets here. While Santander appears to be the laughing third party in this sorry affair one would hope that the effort of the previous owners of B&B to get satisfaction in the courts gets a boost from this slap in their face. After all, the situation at B&B cannot have been all that bad. Forensic accountants to the fore! And what about all that talk about 'Human Rights'?

AIG: Compensation Policy in Disarray

News that Peter Hancock is joining AIG with a compensation package worth up to $ 7.5 mio per year drives another nail through the credibility of the Obama administrations attempts to control pay in the financial sector - and in particular in the companies dependent on government support.

Apology to Wall Street

Just how strong the Anti-Wall Street feeling is can be seen from this article on - of all places - Marketwatch. Is it not time that someone listens? (or is everyone AWOL in Davos?)

Austria: Back to the Past

Austria demonstrates that political control of banking institutions by no means assures that banks are managed in a responsible fashion. Numerous banking problems during the past 30 years (Laenderbank, Bawag, Kommunalkredit, Bank Burgenland) prove this point. The most recent example of a bank that was the plaything of politicians and got into trouble while the regulators turned a blind eye is the Hypo-Alpe-Adria Group in the southern province of Carinthia. The bank had to be rescued by the Federal Government in December 2009 and to cap it all two members of the political establishment have now been appointed to the supervisory board. Plus ca change....

Michael Mayo Testimony - Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission January 2010

Nobody has the time to read everything of relevance - but occasionally we like to the highlight little gems such as Michael Mayo's testimony to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission.

Banking Reform - 2009 a year of lost chances

News that the former CEO of AIG, Hank Greenberg, is trying to have the regulators and politicians look into the circumstances of the bailout of AIG in the autumn of 2008 is just one symptom that the after-effects of the 2008 banking crisis will be with us for quite some time. Most of the ongoing problems can be traced back to the fact that bail-outs were executed in an arbitrary fashion devoid of any principle and in addition there was no democratic oversight. At least the citizens of Iceland have a say in the (non)payment of the bailout money they are asked to contribute to. In the past year there has been zero progress towards creating a banking system that does not explicitly or implicitly rely on future bailouts by the taxpayers. We are not confident that 2010 will bring more progress.

Productive vs Unproductive Lending

Interesting comment by Bob Prechter about US Banks growing lending to consumers at the expense of lending to business.

Legality of Windfall taxes doubtful

We all wonder about the absurdity of some claims about discrimination, unfair treatment etc but one thing appears to be clear: the practice of putting windfall taxes on certain individuals just because they earn their living in a certain industry will no longer be meekly accepted now that deference to authority is no longer existent. We will watch with interest how the courts deal with law suits brought against discriminatory taxes on incomes earned by workers in the banking (and related?) industries. The Pre-Budget speech by Alistair Darling is certainly good news for one section of the UK population: the lawyers!

PS: Tax on bankers' bonus 'would infringe human rights' (The Times) You read it here first!

BayernLB: State-owned Banks no solution

The sorry state of Bayern LB demonstrates that public ownership of banks is no solution to the problem posed by banking supervision. While a large part of the BLB's losses are due to the sub-prime credits generated in the US a not insignificant part is due to mistakes made by management - in particular the ill-fated acquisition of Hypo-Alpe-Adria just at the beginning of the Credit Crunch in Spring 2007.

Democracy and Bank Bailouts

The lack of democratic control is an all-pervasive defect of modern societies. More and more decisions are made by technocrats and a political class that writes its own rulebook without reference to the citizens. The regulation - or its lack - of the banking system is a perfect example. Just imagine what a system would have to look like that is subject to democratic control. Every subsidy would have to be approved in a referendum. Does anyone think the ginormous amount of taxpayer money would have been approved? We all know the answer and as a consequence the banking system would have to be completely overhauled and made literally bombproof. It can be done - if the will is there. But it is not possible to guarantee every penny that is deposited with banks. There will have to be a split into super-safe banks (strictly controlled, offering low but safe custody of money balances) and a larger sector where the value of deposits can fluctuate in emergencies (similar to the value of any bond).