What Bear Stearns could have done to prevent its own destruction
didn't know where to post this, so just posted it here. I know it has been touched upon in other places but I wanted to focus on the details.
What could BSC management have changed about the way they do business in the last several quarters in order to prevent the collapse that occured?
I know that they should have looked well into increasing the firms capital base, emergency liquidity, and reducing its net repo liabilities. Then go from there. Was there anything that prevented them from doing so?
One of the points often brought up is that Bear was just too small of a firm and too concentrated in fixed-income and mortgages to survive. Yet was there seriously any hope of diversifying in the last year, once the fear of a credit crunch became very real?
Please don't say "maybe Cayne shouldn't have smoked up and played bridge". I am positive that for every fuck up at Bear there were 10 intelligent employees who could have done something for the firm's long-term growth and balance sheet health.
Bear Stearns' business model has been flawed for quite some time...too concentrated on FI and in the U.S., and diversification takes years...something the bank definitely was far behind the curve on.
Not quite sure how much the bank itself could have done from June 2007 up to this point. At the end of the day, it was a loss of confidence that did it in.
Not entered the CDO Biz? I actually knew the person who ran that group.
maybe Cayne shouldn't have smoked up and played bridge
I kid. The other posters have it spot on. Once delinquencies started rising, it was too late to do anything because no bank wanted to buy these packages from other banks (ie. there was no trading).
This article has been discussed before, IIRC, http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/may2007/db20070511_…
You may enjoy it
Ut reprehenderit ut mollitia quia et sequi. Adipisci fugiat eos iure delectus. Et ipsam et adipisci voluptas odio numquam. Et debitis facilis numquam libero ullam. Cum dolorem aut rerum. Et ab sit inventore molestiae. Labore vero voluptatibus officiis et.
Et similique neque autem est vel. Maiores harum suscipit totam illo quaerat facere dolorem harum. Consequatur vel et placeat velit et et illum. Voluptatum officiis quia reprehenderit et et. Rem quos consequuntur itaque animi suscipit velit odit.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...