UK banks and life offices on systemic risk list
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Six European insurance firms and three UK banks are some of the 30 international firms ear-marked as firms most likely to be at risk should a global financial collapse happen.
According to the Financial Times RBS, Barclays, HSBC, Axa, Aegon, Aviva, Allianz, Zurich and Swiss Re are all on the list drawn up by the Financial Stability Board in an attempt to pre-empt a future crash.
The FT says these listed firms will be asked by the FSB to create ‘living wills’ to allow regulators to be able to rescue or break-up an institution safely in the event of a collapse.
The report says the firms have been chosen for their “systemic importance” and vast international interconnectedness. Many of the problems that came from the bailout of AIG did so because the insurer had so many diverse operations in so many sectors.
Other firms on the list include Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, UBS, ING and Goldman Sachs.
Readers' comments (4)
You must be joking | 30 Nov 2009 10:26 am
Doesn't really leave a lot!
One assumes these have been listed due to their size and importance, as opose to currently being "at risk" of collapsing?
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Julian Stevens | 30 Nov 2009 11:17 am
Shouldn't the FSA be on this risk list as well? The FSA is badly in the red with sizeable additional borrowing facilities in place with some of the very institutions that it's failed to regulate. The FSA has shown itself to be completely irresponsible, inept and self-serving when it comes to managing its finances. So how come all this is apparently quite okay with the powers that be?
Oh ~ I know. The bottomless coffers of the financial services industry can always be raided to rectify any fiscal mismanagement on the part of the FSA, so that's alright then.
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David Cowell | 30 Nov 2009 3:40 pm
Think about it.
Step 1. 'Living Wills'
Step 2. Return to Glass-Steagall
Why? Because the LWs will give central banks all the info they need to break them up as the banks won't be able to bleat that it would be too difficult.
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Stephen Andrew Persaud | 2 Dec 2009 11:49 am
what goes up must come down -
be a "Bull" all you want but check out this sound ........."crash" meltdown how's it feel -
you were playing the odds now here's the real deal ..........!!!
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