Global Banking: Foresights and Insights video series featuring Knowledge@Wharton and Ernst & Young provides 2012 global banking outlook in light of G-SIFI designations for “banks too big to fail.”
In November, global banks watched intently as international regulators identified and announced the largest, most globally connected financial institutions. With the global systemically important financial institution, or “G-SIFI,” designation comes a marking that the bank is too big to fail, as well as a requirement to hold up to 2.5 percent of excess capital. In the recently released video series, “SIFI Rules are Recasting Global Banking,” professionals from Knowledge@Wharton and Ernst & Young discuss how G-SIFI designations could impact international finance and where the opportunities may lie.
At the start of 2012, banks that compete both globally and domestically will be placed into stratified categories, forcing systemically important financial institutions to rethink their target customers, service offerings and approach to strategic growth. Customers will also have a say in the matter. They now have a choice whether or not to deal with G-SIFIs. Global banks must keep this in mind as the tension between too big to fail and moral hazard continues to intensify.
“The market’s response to G-SIFI designations will be extremely interesting in that some counterparties may feel more comfortable transacting with the 29 banks that were identified,” said Itay Goldstein, Professor of Finance at The Wharton School. “At the same time, G-SIFIs may see this as an opportunity to take on additional risk given their status as vital to the global economy.”
In the feature clip, “What Does SIFI Status Mean for Banks?” Itay Goldstein, Bill Schlich, Ernst & Young Global Banking and Capital Markets Leader, and Don Vangel, Ernst & Young Senior Advisor Banking and Regulator Matters, discuss the complexities created by G-SIFI designations and how global banks will compete under the new capital requirements.
Schlich added: “This is certainly progress towards minimizing the possibility of a large-scale bank failure, and in the worst case scenario, making it as soft a landing as possible. Global banks must view this as an opportunity to revise their growth strategies and make necessary changes to their operating models to thrive in the recast global banking environment.”
This is the fifth installment in the video series. Upcoming installments will address topics such as the impact of mobile technologies and the future of the global banking industry.
About The Wharton School and Knowledge@Wharton
Knowledge@Wharton is the online business analysis journal of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. The site, which is free, captures relevant knowledge generated at Wharton and beyond by offering articles and videos based on research, conferences, speakers, books and interviews with faculty and other experts on current business topics. The Knowledge@Wharton network – including Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, Indian, Arabic and High School editions – has more than 1.7 million subscribers worldwide.
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania— founded in 1881 as the first collegiate business school — is recognized globally for intellectual leadership and ongoing innovation across every major discipline of business education. The most comprehensive source of business knowledge in the world, Wharton bridges research and practice through its broad engagement with the global business community. The School has more than 5,000 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students; more than 9,000 annual participants in executive education programs; and an alumni network of 88,000 graduates.
About Ernst & Young’s Global Banking & Capital Markets Center
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About Ernst & Young
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