Donnerstag, 15. September 2011

Bad News from Casino Banks


The news just got in that a rogue trader caused a loss at UBS of CHF  2 bln. Apparently, a forex trader has been caught on the wrong foot in the wide market swings. While market participant think this is peanuts, they wonder why this is still possible after the losses of monsieur Jerome Kerviel at SocGen.
At a minor conference call of Credit Suisse this morning which focused of PIIGS sovereign debt, analyst Chistine Schmid categorised banks in 3 brackets according their strength.
According to her analysis I would only hold debt of Rabobank, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, and Barclays (UBS is of course now under review). She also said that European banks need to raise EUR 50 bln. equity to fullfill the Basel standards in the coming years due to losses on their sovereign PIIGS bonds, which is very negative for their share prices.