A Harbinger of Risk to Come

A Harbinger of Risk to Come

There is no doubt that international bank regulation is one of the most action-packed topics there is, easily beating out stamp collecting and certainly on par with crocheting toilet doilies. The grand institution of the trade is, of course, the Basel Committee on...
Regretful Readiness

Regretful Readiness

The Canadian Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) just released its Annual Risk Outlook. The outlook lists the top risks faced by the Canadian financial system and the actions OSFI is taking in response. Words like geopolitical turbulence and...
European Banks: Less Rizz*, More Value

European Banks: Less Rizz*, More Value

The banks of Europe—including the UK (no offense!)—are doing great. A few weeks ago, the FT commented that measured by the 47 banks included in the European Stoxx 600 index, the total return and net dividends have outperformed the top US tech stocks known as the...
Delayed

Delayed

One can almost hear the collective groan that escapes from the gate area when the flight status changes from ON TIME to DELAYED on the board. However, I am pretty sure no bank let out the same kind of groan when OSFI, the Canadian bank regulator, announced this week...
Show Your Work

Show Your Work

It is common practice in both middle school and stress testing for the teacher/regulator to require you to show all the intermediate steps you went through to get to the final result. On the student and bank side, this scrutiny is often construed as unnecessary,...