How many banks are in the same boat? How many banks are dependent on these other banks not to be in this boat?
There have been discussions for the last decade that finance institutions have been looking the other way on smaller firm practices as it lets them make more money. If the risks taken are greater than 10 years long, then everyone has gotten paid out by the time there is a problem.
I think the biggest concern with SVB was about the contagion risk because we didn’t know to what extent they were the counter party for other banks risk management. If you hedged your low interest bonds via options with SVB holding the other end of that, your options are toast. Now you own all that risk.
No chief risk officer?!?!?! Damn! Kind of like the movie Margin Call. Can't see the risk if you fire the entire department and promote a shill that goes along with it all.
There have been discussions for the last decade that finance institutions have been looking the other way on smaller firm practices as it lets them make more money. If the risks taken are greater than 10 years long, then everyone has gotten paid out by the time there is a problem.