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by Ashraf Laidi
Posted: Feb 20, 2010 5:00
Comments: 30765
Posted: Feb 20, 2010 5:00
Comments: 30765
Forum Topic:
EUR
Discuss EUR in this thread
Since the stress test was stressful enough and only a handful failed!
Should the EU? ECB? IMF? recall back the emergency package since only a handful failed.
They're confident, right?
Maybe you might consider discuss the above in your next interview?
you proved to be a real pakistani
Ungreatful Bastarrrrrrrrrrds
why u want to Fingure Ashrafs mouth and Ass-hole
is it bcos his call were as and when posted hitting Bulls Eye
Or u like Ass-hole Smell
Its time u shoved them up your's and let it stay there forever until u move into oblivion
Thanks bumsssssss like u r bidding Goodbye from FX-trading
U better do what pakistanis r best at
Train people to be terrorist or u be one yourself
cheers
Worries over EU banks' stress tests
Most likely to pass but there are fears that tests are not stringent enough
MADRID: Several of Spain's 18 savings banks have failed tests to see how they would cope with worsened economic conditions, a newspaper reported yesterday.
Regulators in Europe have been looking at how banks would withstand another recession in an exercise similar to one in the United States last year which helped restore bank sector confidence.
The tests on 91 lenders from 20 European countries, which use scenarios including declines in the value of sovereign debt they hold, were due at 1600GMT (midnight Singapore time) yesterday .
'The rally we've seen in the banking sector on Thursday signalled that the stress test results have been well anticipated, thanks to all the comments already made by officials' said IG Markets analyst Philippe De Vandiere. 'But I think that even if the tests are good, investors will take it as an opportunity to book profits after the strong run-up to the tests.'
Although most of the banks are expected to get the all-clear, there is a great deal of market concern that the tests are not as stringent as they should be, or even as rigorous as those in the US a year ago.
The tests had been expected to show that some of the unlisted savings banks in Spain would need a capital injection under certain scenarios, El Pais newspaper said citing financial sources.
It said a small group of savings banks would need more capital if economic conditions were to worsen sharply and there were sovereign debt crises in several countries.
Goldman Sachs said its survey of investors showed they expected 10 out of the 91 assessed banks to fail.
The poll of 376 respondents, including hedge funds and long-only investors, also showed European banks were expected to raise over 37.6 billion (S$66 billion) in capital after the tests.
Other analysts looking at which banks might need new capital expect five to 10 banks to come up short on the tests, although none of Europe's big names is expected to flunk.
'It's like pulling an elastic band to see at what point it breaks. It depends how hard you pull,' said Mr Alessandro Frigerio, a fund manager with RMJ SGR in Milan. 'The stress tests serve above all to remove uncertainty, it's a kind of reassurance, transparency towards the market.'
The test scenarios include a look at how the banks cope with a moderate recession this year and next, and the same scenario with additional losses on government bonds.
Any bank whose Tier 1 capital ratio falls below 6 per cent by the end of next year will be regarded as failing the test, according to documents seen by Reuters on Wednesday. Banks would be expected to raise funds to make up the capital shortfall.
Apart from Spain's regional savings banks, known as cajas, the hunt for weak spots in European banking has also focused on regional German lenders, known as landesbanks.
Mr Manfred Weber, the head of the Association of German Banks, told local radio he was confident that German banks 'all in all' would perform well at the tests. 'I also believe that the European banking system, two-thirds of which are included in this test, will present a better picture than many expected before,' he said.
With the latest data showing signs of a strengthening recovery in Europe, banks could find themselves in a healthier position than expected.
A stress test on US banks early last year helped draw a line under worries about the sector there. European regulators are aiming to achieve the same. But there have been clear splits in the 27-nation European Union about how to model the test and how much to divulge, stoking worries that it will be less credible.
'The tests should have been done two years ago... like the Americans did, full-on during the crisis,' said Mr Marc Renaud at fund manager Mandarine Gestion.
REUTERS, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Friday, 23rd July 2010
BANKING
VICTORIA BATES
EUROPES much-vaunted stress tests have met with deep scepticism in the City ahead of the publication of the results today, with concerns rife that the test criteria will prove too lax to settle anxieties over the health of the regions banks.
Market observers yesterday levelled criticism at the Committee of European Banking Supervisors for watering down the tests. Banks have been asked to forecast their extra funding needs under a range of scenarios, including a double dip recession and huge losses on government bonds.
Investors baulked at the likely lack of comprehensive disclosure on banks exposure to sovereign risk in the wake of the Greek crisis. They also said the use of core tier one capital ratios as a basis for the tests would have been better than the less rigorous standard of a tier one capital ratio of six per cent.
Officials from the affected countries have insisted that the majority of banks will pass the tests comfortably, with the exception of nationalised German lender Hypo Real Estate.
Emily Adderson, manager of the Henderson global financials fund, said the template for the tests looked over-simplified. Most of the banks appear to have passed, but theres a feeling that if you are going to have these tests, there needs to be an element of cleansing to them, she said.
David Sayer, global head of banking at KPMG, added that the tests need to be, and be seen to be, robust enough to expose obvious weaknesses in some banks positions there will have to be some relative underperformers.
Last night, officials were unclear on how much detail banks should be forced to give on their sovereign debt holdings.