Monday, October 8, 2012

Spain demonstrates why no one should invest in 'black box' banks

For the last several weeks, Spanish officials have been demonstrating why no one should invest in 'black box' banks.

Specifically, as reported by Bloomberg, Spanish officials would like to know all the terms if they were to apply for a bailout.

Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said Oct. 5 that the country had refrained from seeking aid because of concern about how, and even whether, a program would work. 
“We need to have all the elements on the table and also the certainty that it would materialize” before making a bailout request, Saenz told reporters in Madrid.
Isn't this exactly what an investor in any bank would want?

Wouldn't an investor be concerned that the bank had addressed all the losses currently hiding on and off its balance sheet?

Wouldn't an investor want to 'have all the elements on the table' for a bank?  Something that can only be achieved by requiring the banks to provide ultra transparency and disclose on an ongoing basis their current global asset, liability and off-balance sheet exposure details.

Wouldn't an investor want 'certainty' that the bank wouldn't be taken over and had the capacity to generate earnings and rebuild its book capital level?

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