Why Europe's Banks don't have enough Capital

Interesting contribution from the Head of Research at BIS. But when the incompetents in Politics and Regulation have the UK banks pay £45 Bio in penalties for (mostly ficticious) 'mis-selling' one can only say it is a miracle that the banks are left standing and the sleepy shareholders (basically the fiduciaries managing the investment management industry) are not up in arms. 

If you want to bleed your banking system dry there is no better way, similar to Fx and Libor Fixing. 

The principles of forensic and detailed proof are brushed aside in order to score political points.

Another painful lesson from a disastrous Acquisition

News that Unicredit finally has extricated itself from its exposure in the Ukraine serves as a reminder that 'Strategic Transactions' (Acquisitions, Disposals and Mergers) need the utmost attention and best Advice. We are proud to document that we voiced serious doubts when similar acquisitions were conducted some years back (a close look at the 'Mergers and Deals' Blog entries offers a salutary lesson in Merger Hybris).
The usual suspects among the coterie of advisers (Investment Bankers, Lawyers and Accountants) may all be worth their money but they are not always on your side as they tend to have a financial incentive to make sure that a deal goes through, whatever the rationale behind it.