UBS reached an agreement to purchase embattled Credit Suisse on Sunday for a reported $3.2 billion. The agreement came after weekend negotiations orchestrated by the Swiss National Bank and Swiss regulators, which pushed for the emergency rescue as a way to shore up confidence in the nation’s financial system. The two banks are the largest […]

There are 2 primary reasons: 1️⃣ Higher rates slow the economy2️⃣ The Federal Budget Deficit is too high The entire goal of raising interest rates is to slow the economy, make money more expensive, reduce spending, and therefore reduce inflation. The only problem is that it’s a razor’s edge. Raise rates just the right amount […]

Especially in banking. And that’s exactly what got Wells Fargo into hot water.You probably remember 2013 and the chaos surrounding Wells Fargo. “8 is great” surfaced as their internal slogan.Employees were told to push all customers to have 8 products. That eventually led to fraudulent accounts and a big mess…But it all started with losing […]

The Financial Times has reported that UBS is currently involved in talks to acquire part or all of embattled Credit Suisse. The Times’ sources reportedly include “multiple people briefed on the talks” who claimed that Switzerland’s central bank and financial regulators initiated the discussions in hopes that the acquisition might restore public confidence in the […]

And no one seems to be talking about it. More and more businesses are relying HEAVILY on APIs that they don’t own, control, or even understand how they work. Input into the black box → Result returned. And that…Is what we call Counterparty Risk. And lots of it. 1️⃣ The CORE of the business is […]

Let’s not shift the blame – assign blame exactly where it belongs. The decisions that led to this point – based on financial analysis, appear to have started in 2019. The leadership of the bank, met with ~$20B per quarter of deposit inflows, decided to invest in a large HTM portfolio with an average duration […]

It’s consistent singles and a focus on the fundamentals. In baseball it’s ✅ Bunting✅ Base hits✅Moving runners✅Throwing strikes In banking it’s ✅ Making loans✅ Taking deposits✅ Customer service✅ Providing treasury services✅ Knowing your balance sheet Banking is built on the fundamentals in a way that few other businesses are. Typically, you need to understand the […]

The month-long adventures I get to go on with my family every year. ✅ 3 years ago it was Mexico✅ 2 years ago it was Colombia✅ Last year it was Turkey This year it’s Utah and all of us are getting pretty darn good at skiing if I do say so myself. I was telling […]

Considering where I am today – Surprisingly little! No-code tech, Containerization, and Serverless Technologies have completely changed the requirements for building tech. If you can think it,You can build it. When I started Visbanking, I didn’t lock myself in a closet for a year to learn the ins and outs of computer languages and how […]

It’s surprisingly backwards… It has 3 core components – from the bank’s perspective: 1️⃣ Capital The bank’s own money.Either from investors, and/or previous profits kept on hand.The point is – The banks OWNS this money.BUT, the first dollar of loss that a bank takes comes from these dollars. 2️⃣ Liabilities This is made up of […]