Anatomy of a global credit crisis

Publication: Economic Times Mumbai; Date:2008 Sep 17
Author: sugata.ghosh@timesgroup.com

How can a bank like Lehman go down so fast?
FINANCIALmarkets can be punishing and reversal of fortunes can be dramatic. More so, if an institution is overleveraged — when loan and investment books are much, much bigger than its capital. What compounds problems are strange accounting practice and high-risk nature of the loans and investments. There are also disclosure issues: Lehman, in its last conference call with investors, gave no clue that it was actually on the brink.

How did the crisis build up?
An investment bank uses its proprietary book (own money) to lend others and invest. It started with the subprime crisis. Banks like Lehman, buy mortgage loans from other banks, and then package them to sell bonds against the loan pool. Often they add cash to make the loan pool more attractive, so that the bonds can be sold at a higher price. Suppose mortgage was earning 6%, these bonds are sold at 4%. The difference is the spread which the investment bank earns. By selling these structured bonds, it raises money and frees capital. But when homebuyers started defaulting, these bonds lost their value. It all began like this, and then the virus spreads across markets.
But don’t investment banks play advisory role?