Vad ska man säga. Inget oväntat men när det kommer så kommer det på en gång. Franska kreditinstitutet Fitch sänker kreditbetyget 8 av de största bankerna i världen och sänder signaler om att läget är mycket allvarligt. Ni undrar förstås vad höjdpunkten i allt detta är. Jag valde ut följande:

Nonetheless, Fitch continues to be of the opinion that, however well-managed, the structural aspects of their funding, earnings, and leverage, predispose GTUBs to vulnerability to market sentiment and confidence, particularly during periods of exogenous financial stress. Furthermore, the complexity of their business models and exposure to fat tail risk make it more difficult to assess the size of loss that could emerge rapidly from unexpected events.

Vad gäller vilka banker som är drabbade…

Bank of America Corporation
Barclays plc
BNP Paribas
Credit Suisse AG
Deutsche Bank AG
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
Morgan Stanley
Societe Generale

Källor:
http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/press_releases/detail.cfm?pr_id=736670
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-12-15/europe-to-face-run-on-banks-in-coming-months-kyle-bass-says.html

Morgan Stanley sammanfattade häromdagen i en rapport läget för statspapper och vad som väntar runt hörnet. Det är inte frågan om utan när länder kommer att ställa in sina betalningar. Rapporten kan läsas i sin helhet via Scribd och jag inkluderar den i läsbart format nedan, här är ett citat från rapporten.

“The sovereign debt crisis is not European: it is global. And it is not over. The European sovereign debt crisis of spring 2010 was a misnomer in more ways than one: there was not one crisis but two. And it will continue well beyond 2010, in our view. The first crisis was, and remains, an institutional crisis of the euro, caused by a flawed multilateral fiscal surveillance framework. Steps have been taken towards a correction of the flaws with a move from peer pressure to peer control of fiscal policy. This is reflected by the acceptance by the Greek, Spanish and Portuguese governments of fiscal measures largely dictated from Berlin and Brussels. The second crisis was, and remains, a sovereign debt crisis: a crisis caused by sovereign balance sheets being overstretched, to the point where insolvency ceases to be merely possible and becomes plausible. This crisis is not limited to the periphery of Europe. It is a global crisis and it is far from over. We take a high-level perspective on the state of government balance sheets and conclude that debt holders have to be prepared to enter an age of ‘financial oppression’.”

Rapporten från Morgan Stanley:
MS Default