Podcast with Ilari Makela on "Slouching Towards Utopia"; Larry Summers on SVB; Barry Houghton on CCP, Inc.; Musk's Twitter in one image; GPTs & GPTs; bondholder faces unexpectedly eaten by leopards...
Levine is exactly right about the stupid AT1s. Getting zeroed out wasn't some extra-legal action by Swiss authorities and it wasn't some fine print buried on page 566 it was literally in the fucking name, e.g. “7.500 per cent Perpetual Tier 1 Contingent Write-down Capital Notes". Moreover, that the entire purpose of these instruments, the most noble fate that could be envisaged for them, was to place themselves between equity holders and war's devastation, to preserve equity in order to maintain the bank as a going concern. Yes, there some AT1s whose terms say they *convert to equity* but A) in that case the bond holders are still getting smoked, and B) THOSE WEREN'T THE TERMS of the CS AT1s. FFS.
Levine is exactly right about the stupid AT1s. Getting zeroed out wasn't some extra-legal action by Swiss authorities and it wasn't some fine print buried on page 566 it was literally in the fucking name, e.g. “7.500 per cent Perpetual Tier 1 Contingent Write-down Capital Notes". Moreover, that the entire purpose of these instruments, the most noble fate that could be envisaged for them, was to place themselves between equity holders and war's devastation, to preserve equity in order to maintain the bank as a going concern. Yes, there some AT1s whose terms say they *convert to equity* but A) in that case the bond holders are still getting smoked, and B) THOSE WEREN'T THE TERMS of the CS AT1s. FFS.