6 Flashcards
- Bank Run, history: 1620s
During the Thirty Years war, German city-states minted imitations of rival cities coins using lesser metals
- Bank Run, history: 1772:
Financial Haggis (UK):
Scottish bank had lost customer money in risky speculation. Triggered chaos that took down almost all of the country’s private banks. Inspired the parliament to pass the Tea Act.
- Bank Run, history: 1873:
The Great Freakout of 1873 (Western Hemisphere):
Customers demanded gold for cash. Economic crisis. US sent army to war with Native Americans in area with gold
- Bank Run, history: 1914:
Schwenk Bank run (New York):
State banking regulators seized three banks owned by Schwenk, due to dodgy accounting.
- Bank Run, history: 1930s:
The Great Depression (U.S):
Over 9,000 banks failed.
- Bank Run, history: 1980s:
Savings-and-Loan Crisis (U.S.):
- Bank Run, history: 2001:
Great Depression of Argentina
Not enough dollar to cover all deposits. Had to put restrictions on withdrawal
- Bank Run, history: 2011-present:
EuroBlown (Greece):
High public spending, big debt
A quarter of all deposits have been pulled from Greek banks over two years
- Give examples of historical bank runs
1620s: Currency problems in Germany (Germany)
1772: Financial Haggis (UK)
1873: The Great Freakout of 1873 (Western Hemisphere)
1914: Schwenk Bank Run (New York)
1930s: The Great Depression (US)
1980s: Savings-and-Loan Crisis (US)
2001: Malos Aires (Argentina)
2011-present: EuroBlown (Greece)
- What happened after stock market crash of October 1929 in US:
- Wealthy people pulled out money from banks
- Less capital available = less capital for businesses and individuals
- Less capital for businesses and individuals = decline in production and employment
- Wave of Bank runs
- What will a bank have to do in the case of a bank run?
The bank needs to come up with the necessary cash:
a) Liquidate loans (sell the loans, securitize them, borrow from a central bank)
b) Sell assets (often at rock-bottom prices)
- When was the last wave of bank runs during the great depression?
Through the winter of 1932 and into 1933
- Who was the president during the Great depression, and what did he do to end it?
Franklin D. Roosevelt
a) National Bank Holiday (Temporarily closure to access their solvency)
b) New Banking Legislation: The Emergency Banking Act of 1933 (aimed to separate good and bad banks)
c) The New Deal. For employment
d) Spoke on Radio: Public confidence “fireside chats”
- What was the “fireside chats”?
Roosevelts speeches on radio to gain peoples confidence in banks
- How big was Lehman Brothers compared to others?
Fourth largest U.S. Investment Bank
- What was the reason for Lehman Brothers default?
Collapse of US housing market, due to its investment s in the subprime mortgage market
- How did the Lehman Brothers “buy the bubble”?
Acquired five mortgage lenders, including subprime lenders which specialized in Alt-A loans
- What is Alt-A loans?
Type of mortgage loan. Lower income and fewer documentation requirement. A loan that is more easy for borrowers to get.
- How did the Lehman Brothers do in the period 2004 – 2007, and why?
Recorded profits every year from 2005 - 2007
- Why did the Lehman Stock fall sharply in August 2007
Credit crisis with the failure of two Bear Stearns hedge funds.
- What was BNC
A Subprime mortage lender that was a subsidiary of Lehman. Known for its aggressive lending practices – offering many subprime mortgages – Which was pooled together and sold.
- What did Lehman do to try to prevent crisis in August 2007?
a) Shut down its BNC unit.
b) Closed offices of Alt-A lender Aurora in three states
c) Positive public messages from CFO
How much involved did Lehmann get in the mortgage market in 2007?
In 2007 they underwrote more mortgage-backed securities than any other firm
- Why was Lehman so vulnerable?
High degree of leverage - ratio of assets to shareholders equity was 31.
Investments was in the subprime mortgage market
- What were Lehman Brothers “last hope” – and how did it go?
Hopes that the state-owned bank of South Korea – Korea Development Bank – would take a stake in Lehman were dashed on September 9th.
- KDB did not take a stake. What happened to Lehman after this?
a) Big plunge in Stock
b) Big increase in credit-default swaps on the company’s debt
c) Hedge Fund clients started to withdraw their investments
d) Short-term creditors cut credit lines
Bankruptcy in September 2008
- Why is the case of Lehman Brothers similar to a traditional bank run?
The underlying reasons are similar. Institutional investors stopped funding the investment bank, and due to liquidity problem, they went bankrupt.
- What is the Diamond-Dybvig Model?
- Model of bank runs and related financial crises.
- It shows how a mix of illiquid assets (such as mortgage loans) and liquid liabilities (deposits which may be withdrawn at any time) may give rise to self-fulfilling oanics among depositors.