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☆ Interest rate decision: What to expect from the Fed meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Christine Romans | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Among the choices, the Fed could continue its aggressive rate-hike campaign to cool inflation that is running at triple the central bank’s target of 2%. Warren — already a critic of the Fed’s inflation fight — leveled further blistering criticism of the Republican Fed chief. In addition to achieving price stability and financial stability, the Fed’s broader mandate includes supervision of individual financial institutions, Leer says, and “that’s where the failure lies. “The Fed needs to secure both price stability and financial stability, something that it has failed to so recently,” he told CNN. And this Fed chief inherited an unprecedented economy.

March 21 (Reuters) - Investors on Tuesday took some heart from the rescue of troubled lender Credit Suisse by its Swiss rival UBS (UBSG.S), though concerns lingered about the risk of shockwaves further damaging credit markets and smaller U.S. banks. "The current situation in U.S. regional banks and Credit Suisse has raised concerns about contagion risk," said Grace Tam, chief investment advisor Hong Kong at BNP Paribas Wealth Management. Credit Suisse CEO Ulrich Koerner, who was expected to attend the conference, however, dropped out and the event was closed to media after the weekend rescue. Shares in First Republic Bank (FRC.N) halved on Monday on worries that last week's $30 billion infusion of capital would not be enough. The regulators said owners of this type of debt would only suffer losses after shareholders have been wiped out - unlike at Credit Suisse, whose main regulators are in Switzerland.

☆ Janet Yellen: Further rescues of depositors could be needed if smaller lenders suffer bank runs
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —The federal government could once again come to the rescue of uninsured bank depositors if smaller lenders suffer bank runs like the one that collapsed Silicon Valley Bank, according to prepared remarks from US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. And the US banking system remains sound,” Yellen said in the remarks, to be delivered at the American Bankers Association’s Washington DC Summit on Tuesday. “Our intervention was necessary to protect the broader US banking system. Regional bank stocks have been volatile ever since the bank failures, with some lenders such as First Republic experiencing dramatic declines. The industry-led rescue of First Republic, announced last week by some of the biggest US banks, represents a “vote of confidence in our banking system,” Yellen said.

☆ Premarket stocks: Five questions for the Federal Reserve as the banking crisis drags on
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

A policy rate announcement is expected on Wednesday along with new economic projections, and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will face the press to answer questions. Is the Fed’s fight against inflation destabilizing the banking system? The US banking system is under a lot of pressure right now. Lagarde opted to portray that rate increase as a signal that the financial system remains strong. Yet, ironically, the banking mess is now helping tech companies and cryptocurrencies as investors flock out of the banking system in search of alternative safe spaces to store their cash.

☆ Credit Suisse went the way of Bear Stearns in 2008. But this crisis is different
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

A sign of Credit Suisse pictured behind a sign of UBS in Zurich on March 18, 2023. The Swiss government said Tuesday it had ordered Credit Suisse to temporarily suspend the payment of some bonuses, including share awards, to bank staff. Credit Suisse is the first “global systemically important” bank to be rescued since 2008. Yet despite its importance to the financial system, most analysts are not expecting Credit Suisse’s demise to mark the beginning of another global financial crisis. “It’s possible that a vicious circle develops, in which credit tightens, the real economy deteriorates, and default rates start to rise,” he said.

☆ How bad is the banking crisis?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Spriha Srivastava | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The Fed along with five other central banks announced coordinated action to reassure global banks. To make sense of those acronyms, GFC refers to the global financial crisis of 2007 to 2009, EZ crisis is the Eurozone crisis of 2009 onwards, temper tantrum likely refers to the taper tantrum of 2013, and the Covid 3/20 shock is when global markets went haywire in the early stages of the pandemic. So, you might be wondering: Just how bad is the banking crisis? "It means the banking crisis we've seen over the past few weeks has started a new chapter rather than reaching its ending." After the 2008 financial crisis, the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) made it necessary for all European banks to issue CoCo bonds.

☆ S&P downgrades First Republic further into junk status as the bank's $30 billion rescue may not be enough to solve liquidity problems
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Carla Mozée | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

First Republic Bank's credit rating was cut for the second time in less than a week by S&P Global Ratings. The Federal Home Loan Bank System provides cash to banks and other lenders and is made up of 11 regional banks. S&P Global noted First Republic last week reported a cash position of $34 billion, not including the $30 billion in deposits from the 11 banks. PacWest said it "continues to have solid liquidity," with more than $10.8 billion in available cash, and that cash exceeds total uninsured deposits. Western Alliance said it remains in a strong position, with immediately available liquidity of over $20 billion as of March 16.

☆ Picking up the pieces in the wake of SVB's collapse
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

It's just over a week from Federal regulators announcing they would be bailing out depositors of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. Now, the FDIC said Sunday that New York Community Bancorp's Flagstar Bank will take on nearly all of Signature Bridge Bank's deposits. Credit Suisse, whose problems long preceded SVB's downfall, to be fair, is getting acquired by Swiss rival UBS. Silicon Valley Bank was the bank for tech. The people backing venture capitalists, known as limited partners, share their thoughts on how VCs handled the crisis at Silicon Valley Bank.

☆ Global banking crisis: One big problem down. Too many others left to go
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( David Goldman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New York CNN —Credit Suisse, hobbled for decades by mismanagement, scandal and bad bets, finally succumbed to the emerging global banking crisis. In the United States, the banking crisis began nearly two weeks ago with the sudden collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank over a three-day span. That sent shockwaves through the global banking system. Good news and bad newsThe good news: Those loans do not indicate anything inherently wrong with the global banking system. But the banking system and regulators would have to calm fears before that happens system-wide.

☆ The Fed spotted red flags at Silicon Valley Bank years before it collapsed, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Jennifer Sor | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Fed officials saw issues with Silicon Valley Bank years before it collapsed, according to a NYT report. Officials first identified red flags in a 2021 review of SVB, a familiar source told the NYT. The NYT reported that Fed officials found issues with the now-failed bank after a review in 2021. Despite that, the issues went unaddressed at the bank, leading to a more thorough Fed review in July 2022. The Fed has said it will investigate its supervision of SVB and will report its findings on May 1.

☆ Top UBS executives defend their 'emergency rescue' of Credit Suisse. Here's what comes next.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

UBS sought to reassure investors that the Credit Suisse deal wouldn't disrupt long-term strategy. UBS agreed to acquire Credit Suisse on Sunday in a deal arranged by the Swiss government. Credit Suisse has faced crisis after crisis in recent years, from Archegos to a spying scandal. "These events could alter the course of not only European banking but also the wealth management industry more generally," Georgiou said. "It's an outcome that we may not have hoped for," Hamers said of the Credit Suisse deal.

☆ This fund manager shorted Credit Suisse — and he's sticking with his bet
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( Ganesh Rao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Barry Norris, fund manager at Argonaut Capital, said Saturday morning that he still expects Credit Suisse 's stock to become worthless. "If this happens we would expect [Credit Suisse] equity holders to get zero, deposit holders guaranteed and probably but not certain that bond holders will be made whole." Norris' Argonaut Absolute Return Fund fund delivered 11.3% in returns last year amid a year of losses for the broader stock market. Credit Suisse has had tumultuous few years, battling various scandals and controversies . Credit Suisse had invested heavily in Greensill and marketed its funds to clients, but the firm collapsed in 2021, leaving Credit Suisse and its customers with $1.7 billion in losses and reputational damage.

☆ Exclusive: Some Credit Suisse counterparties curb dealings as bank heads into scenario meetings -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Shankar Ramakrishnan Stefania Spezzati Sumeet Chatterjee | Shankar Ramakrishnan | Stefania Spezzati | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Credit Suisse declined to comment. Credit Suisse intends to borrow up to 50 billion Swiss francs ($54 billion) from the Swiss National Bank in what it called "decisive action" to boost its liquidity on Thursday. The five people with direct knowledge of the bank's trading counterparties requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation. Credit Suisse has said that it is a strong, global bank. Among possible scenarios, analysts, bankers and investors speculate that Credit Suisse could sell or wind down some of its existing businesses with a break-up potentially on the cards.

"Not only are these big banks not sitting around and waiting for the phone to ring, they are also being proactive." Amid the nation's most troubling turmoil in banking since the global financial crisis nearly 15 years ago, the big banks are flexing their collective muscle. The 2008 financial crisis humbled the banking behemoths; the 2023 crisis of regional banks has now only cemented their power. For an increasingly stretched financial system, the big banks provide a needed stability. The flight to safety that is benefiting the big banks will have a cost, however.

☆ Fed loans, account guarantees helped stabilize 'deposit flows' at regional banks, Treasury official says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Christina Wilkie | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Following the collapse of California-based Silicon Valley Bank and New York-based Signature bank last Friday and Sunday, respectively, regulators announced a series of emergency measures to stabilize the nation's banking system. "It will take time for markets to catch up with the actions that have been taken by us and by these banks," Adeyemo said on CNBC's " Squawk on the Street ." The result of the actions was a dramatic turnaround in the fortunes of numerous banks, said Adeyemo. That included banks that had anticipated potential mass withdrawals, and pledged collateral ahead of time expecting to need emergency loans. "Are all uninsured depositors in the U.S. banking system protected right now?"

☆ Billionaire investor Bill Ackman says US banks depositing $30 billion into First Republic creates a 'false sense of confidence'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Bill Ackman said a plan to deposit $30 billion into First Republic Bank creates a "false sense of confidence." "Spreading the risk of financial contagion to achieve a false sense of confidence in FRB is bad policy," he said. The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, New York has rattled the banking sector, sparking fears of a contagion that could lead to the next global financial crisis. First Republic has been assuring customers of its liquidity since the implosion of Silicon Valley Bank — which in turn triggered concerns about the financial health of regional banks. First Republic Bank's shares closed 10% higher at $34.27 apiece on Thursday and were 6% lower in pre-market trade at 5.41 a.m. on Friday.

☆ Chinese state media says US banking troubles are a result of poor regulation and domestic politics — but China's banks aren't having a great time either
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

China's state media says the banking crisis happened due to poor financial regulation and US domestic politics. But banks in China also have their own issues amid the country's property woes. China's heavy-handed criticism comes at a bleak time for its own banksBut this harsh criticism comes at a bleak time for China's own banks. Since its collapse, some of these start-ups have been looking for alternatives — such as bigger US banks or other Chinese lenders, Reuters reported. Despite these troubles, China touts its governance system as being superior to "Western democracy" and uses state media to push its messaging.

Employees have been working around the clock to onboard as many startups as possible in the wake of the implosion of Silicon Valley Bank. Silicon Valley Bank, which had more than $175 billion in deposits and served nearly half of US VC-backed startups, was taken over by US regulators on March 10. "That said, I am worried that this bias towards a Big Four bank is a double-edged sword," Shekar added. "SVB did not think like a big bank. They could understand your operating plan when a big bank would balk at it," Ashley Tyrner, CEO and founder of FarmBoxRX, told Insider.

☆ Big banks to the rescue
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Goldman Sachs' decision to charge employees for coffee might not be that outrageous after all! The largest US banks — headlined by Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo — just pledged a total of $30 billion in deposits to First Republic Bank. As detailed in a release announcing the news, the 11 banks, which also included Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, believe the move "demonstrates their overall commitment to helping banks serve their customers and communities. I can't imagine the big banks looking to pull the rug out from First Republic four months from now, but this money was a deposit, not a donation. Read more about how big banks came to the rescue of First Republic with $30 billion in deposits.

☆ China makes surprise rate cut to boost banking liquidity and the economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said it would cut the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) for almost all banks by 0.25 percentage points, effective March 27. “[We must] make a good combination of macro policies, better serve the real economy, and maintain reasonable and sufficient liquidity in the banking system,” the PBOC said in a statement. The central bank had already injected hundreds of billions of yuan into the banking system since January, mainly through a medium-term lending facility, the analysts said. Regulators on both sides of the Atlantic have taken emergency measures since Sunday to provide liquidity support to troubled lenders and shore up the confidence in the banking system. But he also acknowledged that the RRR cut “remains an effective monetary policy tool” to provide long-term liquidity and support the economy.

☆ US stocks fall as bank worries linger after firms borrow $165 billion from Fed to shore up liquidity
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Matthew Fox | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

US stocks fell on Friday as investor concerns about the current state of the US banking industry linger. Banks borrowed $165 billion from the Federal Reserve's backstop program to shore up liquidity. First Republic fell 20% after it cut its dividend, and SVB Financial filed for bankruptcy in New York. First Republic Bank shored up liquidity via a $30 billion capital infusion from major US banks like JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Bank of America, among others. Still, the deal wasn't enough to stem the decline in First Republic Bank's stock, which fell 20% on Friday after it suspended its dividend.

☆ US stocks fall but close mostly higher for the week despite ongoing bank fallout
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Matthew Fox | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

US stocks finished the week mostly higher despite continued fallout from multiple bank failures. Banks borrowed $165 billion from the Federal Reserve's backstop program to shore up liquidity. But strength in mega-cap tech stocks helped catapult the Nasdaq 100 to its best weekly gain since November. First Republic Bank shored up liquidity via a $30 billion capital infusion from major US banks like JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Bank of America, among others. Still, the deal wasn't enough to stem the decline in First Republic Bank's stock, which fell 20% on Friday after it suspended its dividend.

☆ Asian markets rebound after First Republic Bank gets rescued by US lenders
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Hong Kong CNN —Asian markets rebounded Friday after First Republic Bank was rescued by a group of major US lenders, which eased worries about the current banking turmoil. First Republic Bank (FRC) is set to receive a $30 billion lifeline from a group of America’s largest banks, including JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (CBEAX), Citigroup (C) and Truist (TFC). “Following the recent global financial instabilities, First Republic Bank was expected to be the next domino to fall,” said Yeap Jun Rong, a market analyst at IG. Worries deepened on Wednesday after shares of Credit Suisse plummeted in Europe. Regulators on both sides of the Atlantic have taken emergency measures to shore up confidence, including protecting deposits at Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank and giving a $54 billion lifeline to Credit Suisse.

☆ Fed Chair Jerome Powell reportedly blocked a statement on regulatory flaws that led to SVB's collapse
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Jennifer Sor | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The NYT reported that Fed Chair Powell blocked a mention of regulatory failings in a report on SVB. The final joint statement on SVB's fall speaks mostly of regulators' work since the 2008 crisis. Instead, the final statement only spoke positively of financial regulation, praising the reforms put in place after the 2008 Financial Crisis. Silicon Valley Bank was taken over by the FDIC last Friday, sparking an intense sell-off in bank stocks and wavering confidence in the US banking system. President Biden has promised to tighten regulation in the wake of SVB's failure, assuring Americans that the US banking system is safe.

A round of financing on Sunday raised through JPMorgan had given First Republic access to $70 billion in funds. First Republic Bank's stock closed up 10% on news of the rescue but its shares fell 18% in after-market trading, after the bank said it would suspend its dividend. [1/2] A person walks past a First Republic Bank branch in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S., March 13, 2023. It said it would exercise an option to borrow up to 50 billion Swiss francs ($54 billion) from the Swiss National Bank, which confirmed it would provide liquidity to the bank against sufficient collateral. Since March 8, before last week's collapse of SVB, European banks have lost around $165 billion in market value, Refinitiv data shows.

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