A Banana Republic in the Heart of Europe

The Moses and Methuselah Podcast

Summary

The authorities may have averted a new global banking crisis for now by their handling of Silicon Valley Bank and the rushed shotgun marriage that handed Credit Suisse to fellow Swiss bank UBS, but there will be plenty of ramifications for the financial markets to absorb. In their latest podcast, now appearing fortnightly, Peter Seilern and Jonathan Davis discuss the causes of the bank failures and what it all means for regulators, depositors, bondholders and shareholders in an age of rising interest rates and instant communications - not to mention for Switzerland, which in Peter's view risks being seen as a "banana republic" for the way it chose to handle the Credit Suisse debacle.

01:20 - Has the banking crisis stabilised for now?

07:15 - Role of management failures

08:35 - Swiss approach to banking crisis

12:51 - Shareholder impact

14:55 - Implications for EU banks

17:12 - Has UBS got a good deal?

23:24 - Behind the collapse of SVB

26:34 - Unintended consequences and real world implications

36:39 - Wrapping up

About Your Hosts

Jonathan Davis started his career as a financial journalist on UK national newspapers, including The Times and The Economist, before qualifying as a professional investor and moving into a new portfolio career as an author, columnist (for The Independent and Financial Times), publisher and investment strategist. He is currently the editor of the annual Investment Trusts Handbook, an adviser to Saunderson House and a Member of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment. You can find his newsletter and weekly investment trust podcast on his Money-Makers website. Apart from family, his chief recreation is playing bridge at a high level.

Peter Seilern began his career in financial services in October 1973, which coincided with the first oil shock and was followed by a brutal bear market and an explosion in inflation. After gaining experience in all aspects of the banking industry in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, he founded his own investment management business in 1989, today called Seilern Investment Management, based in London. Born in Trieste, Italy, in 1952, his background is quintessentially pan-European and he deeply believes in the necessity for European nations to continue to strive for ever closer political, economic and monetary union. He has been married for almost thirty-nine years and has three adult children. His hobbies include making and listening to music and reading.

Buy Peter’s book Only the Best Will Do, master investor Peter Seilern reveals everything you need to know to practise the art of quality growth investing: finding the companies that can reliably deliver steady and strong growth for the long term.