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There are those who believe a vote for the UK to leave the European Union represents a chance to peel back onerous regulations on business and finance. Those people are in for an unpleasant surprise.
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Capital markets people thought Brexit would not happen because the UK electorate always chooses the sensible option in the end. But it hasn’t. -
Financial regulation, for anyone following it closely, is a microcosm of the weaknesses and the strengths of the European Union. It is at times maddening, confusing, incoherent, and vindictive, but gives the countries of Europe a collective voice far stronger than any individual jurisdiction. And, slowly but surely, it is creating a single market for capital.
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When the covered bond purchase programme (CBPP3) began in October 2014, valuations had become severely overstretched, and not long after the purchasing began, the market came under considerable pressure. Valuations are once again looking overstretched across the board but more so in the corporate sector where eurosystem buying has also only just begun.
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Equity advisory has made a triumphant return to the mainstream of banking, as pressures on big banks push corporates into the arms of independent advisers. But not all new entrants will be successful, warns David Rothnie.
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One of the cases pro-EU UK politicians make, at least to City officials, against Brexit is that the whole of post-crisis regulation would have to be rewritten from scratch, leaving banks facing years more uncertainty.
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European Council president Donald Tusk this week told European Union leaders their “utopian” illusions were tearing Europe apart. They may end up doing the same to its banking sector.
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Regulators don’t want their banks getting any larger, and are offering incentives for firms to shrink. But as Italy gears up to rescue another firm with less than €50bn of assets, how small does a bank need to be before it’s no longer TBTF?
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A slew of onshore bond defaults by Chinese state-owned entities has sent a chill through the market over the past couple of months, with more expected to be in store. But with the market calming down in May, it’s time to take stock and realise that such defaults are part of China’s transition to a market-driven economy — and are essential for the long-term health of the country’s debt market.
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UniCredit’s chief executive, Federico Ghizzoni, has been forced out. There are grumblings about the bank’s low capital levels, high costs, and sprawling strategy, and suggestions that UniCredit needs to sell assets and build capital.
