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Why Do Zombie Banks Hate Writing Off Bad Loans? Jonathan Weil Explains
Wonder why all bank earnings over the past 3 years are fake? Wonder why few if any banks ever dare to take major write offs and represent the true nature of their financials? Wonder no longer: Bloomberg's Jonathan Weil explains.
Why Zombie Banks Hate to Write Off Bad Loans
There’s a simple explanation for why the world’s zombie banks remain so reluctant to write off worthless assets and tap the equity markets for fresh capital. They don’t want to end up like UniCredit SpA. (UCG)
This month has been a nightmare for the Italian bank’s shareholders. Since embarking last week on a 7.5 billion euro ($9.7 billion) stock sale at a steep discount to its Jan. 3 closing price, UniCredit shares have fallen 39 percent to 2.56 euros. It seems no good deed goes unpunished when it comes to lenders besieged by Europe’s debt crisis. A little bit of candor about the true state of a company’s finances can hurt a lot.
That undoubtedly is the message some other lenders facing large capital shortfalls will take from UniCredit’s troubles. The incentive now, just as most banks are undergoing their year- end audits, will be to stick with the pretense that all is well and there’s no need to raise additional capital.
Not that a lot of them have better options. There’s only so much private-sector capital available to go around. As sickening as the plunge in its share price may be, UniCredit secured an early-mover advantage by acting when it did. Even that might not be enough to ensure its survival without a taxpayer rescue.
This month’s offering was spurred in part by UniCredit’s decision in November to take large writedowns for the third quarter, resulting in a 10.6 billion euro loss, mostly for intangible assets such as goodwill leftover from ill-fated acquisitions. The loss was the largest disclosed for the period by a euro-area bank. The European Banking Authority also weighed in last month after its latest stress tests, saying UniCredit had almost an 8 billion euro capital shortfall.
Frightfully Low
The markets sense, with good reason, that the latest cash infusion won’t be enough. UniCredit’s stock market value stands at 14.8 billion euros, taking into account this month’s rights offering. That’s frightfully low, considering the company showed 52.3 billion euros of common shareholder equity and 950 billion euros of assets as of Sept. 30.
Investors still see a huge hole in the company’s books that UniCredit executives have yet to admit. Had UniCredit taken swift action sooner to mop up and replenish its balance sheet, it might not be in the precarious position it is today.
This is one of the lessons everyone should have learned from the collapses of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2008: Come clean about your losses to preserve the markets’ trust, and raise more capital than you think you will ever need to get through a crisis while you can, because you might not get another chance. UniCredit seems to be coming a tiny bit clean, and raising a smidgeon of the money it needs. At least it’s doing something, though.
Elsewhere in Europe this generally isn’t the case. On average the 31 companies in the Euro Stoxx Banks Index (SX7E) trade for 39 percent of common equity, or book value, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. France’s Credit Agricole SA (ACA) trades for 23 percent of book. Yet somehow the European Banking Authority last month concluded it had no capital shortfall.
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Because it doesn't give them braiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnsssssss or even graiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnn?
Did Satan ever admit to being a sinner? Monkey see, monkey do.
I for one welcome our new zombie overlords.
Loans? Does he mean assets?
I will post this again:
_________________________________________
PRESS RELEASE
8 December 2011 - ECB announces measures to support bank lending and money market activity
The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) has today decided on additional enhanced credit support measures to support bank lending and liquidity in the euro area money market. In particular, the Governing Council has decided:
Modalities of the two longer-term refinancing operations with a maturity of 36 months and the option of early repayment after one year:
The operations will be conducted as fixed rate tender procedures with full allotment. The rate in these operations will be fixed at the average rate of the main refinancing operations over the life of the respective operation. Interest will be paid when the respective operation matures.
After one year counterparties will have the option to repay any part of the amounts they are allotted in the operations, on any day that coincides with the settlement day of a main refinancing operation. Counterparties must inform their respective NCB, giving one week’s notice, of the amount they wish to repay.
The operations will be conducted according to the schedule shown in the table. The first operation will be allotted on 21 December 2011 and will replace the 12-month LTRO announced on 6 October 2011.
http://www.ecb.int/press/pr/date/2011/html/pr111208_1.en.html
Bingo!......+1 Unicorn
If bank assets were marked to market, both the US and Europe would have reserve ratios well south of 1%.
This is why confidence is so important. The banks have less than a penny for every dollar/euro on deposit.
Don't panic? If there is a bank run with reserve ratios this low and you're in the 98th percentile of people withdrawing their money you are too late.
While I agree entirely HH, if this were really a game of confidence why not hang Corzine in Time Square until dead? That would send the appropriate message and the DOW north or 15,000 ASAP.
This is blatant, in-your-face, we own your government and are stealing everything, what-are-you-going-to-do-about-it, shit.
Duplicate deleted
If Italian bond yields keep dropping Corzine might be laughing all the way to the Cayman Islands?
Things that make you go hmmmm:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/24/jpmorgan-idUSL3E7HO06P20110624
No idea why they would be doing this now
Issue of money, in the form of banknotes and current accounts subject to check or payment at the customer's order. These claims on banks can act as money because they are negotiable or repayable on demand, and hence valued at par. They are effectively transferable by mere delivery, in the case of banknotes, or by drawing a check that the payee may bank. Thanks.
Regards,
criminal lawyer toronto
nope-1004
"Did Satan ever admit to being a sinner?"
You understand that in early bible works Satan was the right hand of God. Satan was the tempter and God the redeemer.
The Spanish mortgage banks do not foreclose because they do not want to drive down collateral values, so they count the unpaid portion of delinquent loans as new lending giving a polished image to an otherwise turdish balance sheet.
I imagine Unicredit have been the same.
Here in the US it is no better. I am a Realtor and recently attempted to help some friends of mine in a short sale. One of them lost a job and they were moving because of transfer. Their home is currently worth about $210k. Their mortgage in around $250k.
We had a bona fide offer for $220 and a certain mega bank rejected the offer. My clients asked me what they should do. I said "let them have the house. After they move it through their system and put it back on the market at a higher price the market will deteroate further. Based on my experience over the last few years, once it becomes a bank owned property, the offers will go south. The stupid bastards will be lucky to get $180k six months from now and they deserve the ass kicking for being so short sighted. Let them choke on it."
My clients said they did not want to ruin their credit, but had no other choice. Of course i think in a few years the bankrupcy stigma won't be as hard to overcome.
Does it really matter any more.
No.
tOO BiG To fAiL LOan MOdIFiCATioN FOrm r.1.A.002.B.XXXX
The manipulation of this market is just spectacular to watch. Bravo if you are out there reading this Mr. manipulator man. Bravo! We can bitch and moan all day long but at 3pm we can count on you.
....aaaand US stocks float up with no volume on good news like this.
Shorter Jonathan Weil:
The only lesson the banks learned from 2008 etc was to keep your yap shut and lobby behind the scenes for a cushy bailout.
Any bank or BHC that deviates even slightly from that script will be shot in the head.
Of course, if you could "mark to unicorn" and get free money AND you controlled the puppets that made the laws that "regulated" it all, why would you let anything change? Everything will be fine, until it isn't. From my perspective, the only thing I worry about are supply chain disruptions. Lots of our essential supplies are not getting cheaper and delivery is getting more inconsistent.
less chances for them (associates) to get that bonus to buy hookers and blow - http://hedge.ly/gFWVSm
In a world where mark-to-market valuation is considered uncouth and crass by the upperbanker class, no asset is worthless, hypothetically.
Math and reality. They are so unhelpful. Why put these chains on ourselves? We'll just pretend things are worth something, and if we all do it together, they will be, and everything will be fine.
It's like building a Duplo princess castle, one pepto-pink brick at a time. Viva Van Rompuy!
I wonder just how shitty the "collateral" that the Euro Banks put up for the last LTRO really was if it was still considered shitty with mark-to-market rules being suspended...
How many of you, ZH'ers, do really expect a CDS trigger whenever Greece writes off 50 or more percent of its debt? I think "they" will not let "it" happen and replace the written off debt by fresh new bonds. Politicians do weird things, but openly committing economic suicide is a bridge too far, even for them.
nothing will ever go wrong ever again
Exactly. No collapse. Boring world we live in.
No collapse because the game is rigged. Those that create and play the game set the rules and can change them at will. TPTB can pretend and extend longer than many people realise.
Quick question there bud: A) Who would be dumb enough to buy these "fresh new bonds" of yours and B) How would creating these "fresh new bonds" not lead to a inflationary spiral?
A) Very easy: "fresh new bonds" will be for free, otherwise banks lose lots of money on the old bonds. Now they get compensated.
B) "fresh new bonds" replace the other ones.
Mark my words: no CDS trigger, no collapse. Greece can default on anything, at any percentage.
Yeah, kind of like Calvinball.
http://www.bartel.org/calvinball/
That's what I've been saying for months. No collapse.
The world is boring for ALL fuking idiots!
I always heard it as "only boring people get bored."
CDS are private contracts between 2 parties - so when one of them decides it is a credit event, its up to them to come up with their lawyer team at the other counterparties door and demand exchange (bonds vs payment as most are cash settled now after auction).
Well then private institutions busting will trigger CDS payouts. Sears CDS will probably work out. Greece? I'm not so sure...
Yup. Corp triggers typically go off without a hitch, and involve a lot less 'central bank voodoo' than dealing with sovereign debt... last example of a sov default was Ecuador and the CDS went off just fine.
Who will pay out all those CDS's? No one has the money for it. It simply will not happen. There will be no CDS dump either. Really, Greece is a storm in a teacup. I'm looking forward to the Spring, to make a nice trip somewhere to a Eurocountry. Just like Christmas was a nice time to laugh about all the doomprophets which became unmasked in 2011, so can Spring and Summer 2012 be. Happy Summer 2012.
Sure, until the supply lines for real products that are essential break, then it is war. Same as it ever was. We have some time.
We do indeed. Couple years, max. After which there will be no going back ever again for evar. I don't know what awaits us on the other side, but it has us in the grasp now and we are going there -- kicking and screaming for sure -- but go we must.
Because the real value of the bad assets wouldn't be a haircut, but rather a scalping.
Welcome to the pending end of the "Mark to make believe" fairytale.
Exactly. Everyday our firm marks to market. EVERY. Fucking. Day
What's the value of the shit on the zombie books? 20cents? Less?
'Come clean about your losses to preserve the markets’ trust, and raise more capital than you think you will ever need to get through a crisis while you can, because you might not get another chance.'
Dream on. MF Global was self regulated wasn't it? We're way past this. All of this rearview nonsense should be regarded for what it is: the end of the rope. Just before you die your mistakes come flooding in.
the bankster has no clothes
Bloomberg ? MSM
Let's call it what it is: insolvency and the sooner the system gets reset and broken up to allow for new institutions to take the function of banking, the better.
The lesson that should be learned from Lehman is that no sacrificial lamb will scare the public into thinking the fraud needs to continue.
I think unless a huge amount of coercion is used on the private holders of Greek debt the private holders will insist/litigate for triggering CDS.
Who knows what carrot/stick they will be offered to accept the voluntary haircut? One way out for all these maxed out governments would be to bring back Roman style proscription. That method worked well for funding many emperors pet wars/projects.
Bingo: litigation.
Coercion is the name of the game. Laws will be re-written, palms greased and eventually [sovereign] CDS will be exposed for the absolute joke that it has revealed itself to be.
The NDAA is just another point on the line headed in that direction.
Shame they don't use it on white-collar thieves, but I'm a fan of pillory and the stocks first for them.
Speaking of Zombie banks, JPM should be reporting any day now.
From CNN/Money.com
Stocks edge higher on positive news out of Europe. Dow gains 21 points. Nasdaq and S&P each add less than 1%.
Postive news out of Europe? What a joke!
Positive gas flow out of Europes ass.
Zombie Banker Death Squad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjPJ45kmDz8
Silver... B T F D !!!
Wait, is this article actually postulating that banks at anytime since the signing of the Federal Reserve Act actually created any kind of genuine wealth that wasn’t completely fraudulent funny money?
When you go out on a date you do your nails, floss, gargle, trim the hairs, etc. - wear your nice watch/jewelry, the outfit you look best in, your best shoes, and bring a wad of cash to pay with even if you have to tap credit.
You do whatever you can to look your best - because you want to get LAID.
good people dont need to dress up to be good.
Err ... because writing off bad debt not only reduces their liability, it also reduces their assets?
Q: When is an asset a liability?
A: An asset is liability when the asset is an "Accounts Receivable" (everyone knows that - don't they?).
OR
Because it cost so much for New Deli IBM SAP clerks to do a top side entry to their balance sheets (at least 3 rupees a day)?
Fiat money is dying as a result of banking insolvency and sovereign insolvency in the Eurozone; with the result being failure of global growth.
Banking insolvency in the European Financials, EUFN, especially the National Bank of Greece, NBG, means ongoing currency failure globally, persistent economic contraction, and continued diminished world trade.
Sovereign insolvency will spread from the EU periphery to the EU core. The loss of debt sovereignty will be a catalyst for the formation of a European Super State based upon unified fiscal rules. Bank failures and EU Treasury auction failures, will be the defining issues of the year. These will cause leaders to meet in summits, waive national sovereignty, establish a unified federal authority, mandate a European fiscal union, and establish either the ECB or the Bundesbank, that is Buba, as the Euro’s Bank.
Life in Europe will be characterized as a totalitarian collective. Totalitarian collectivism is the EU’s future. European Socialism will die in 2012. Diktat will provide seigniorage to replace the seigniorage of treasury bonds. Diktat will become a currency, that is a payment used in the exchange of goods or services.
Gary of Between relates that Welt reports Europe's interbank market is frozen and the continent's banks are only lending to each other through the ECB due to a lack of confidence within the financial industry, World Bank President Robert Zoellick was quoted as saying. If European banks don't lend to each other, how can others in the U.S. or in China be expected to do it, Zoellick said.
The seigniorage of fiat money is failing, and the seigniorage of diktat is rising in its place, as is seen in the rise of power of the EU ECB IMF Troika to appoint technocratic government in Greece and Italy. Diktat is rising as a currency to dominate mankind. Libertarian’s desire for Freedom and Free Enterprise are a mirage on the Neoauthoritarian Desert of the Real. And Choice is an epitaph on Neoliberalism’s tombstone.
Bible prophecy of Revelation 13:3-4 foretells that a world wide credit bust and global financial collapse is coming, and that regional global governance will be established. This was foretold long ago when the prophet Daniel explained the Statue of the Progression of Empires to King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2:31-33.
For much, much more on bible prophecy, please consider reading here http://tinyurl.com/88baae7
RETARD ALERT!!!
Quick get out the water cannons! Hallelujers!
I see a rise in nationalism along old lines and the re-establishment of historical currencies, but I could be wrong.
Yep, humans are fundamentally tribal. That's why the Germans wil never bail out the "lazy" (in their minds) Italians, and Greeks. Any more than Texans would voluntarily "bail-out" the indolant, lazy Californians. They would rather see the end of the EU even if it damages them too. And politicians who want to be re-elected had better heed this, as the tea party showed when they threw out their own senators in the last primaries.
The future is balkanization, not more collectivism.
spam
When you're getting free money from the Fed, why do anything?