The nightmare of 2008 takes shape in the early autumn. In great difficulty, the Franco-Belgian bank Dexia has lost a third of its value on the stock market Tuesday morning amid rumors injection of public money. Since the beginning of August, the European banks, particularly French, are attacked by the markets.
Investors blame them for buying too many Greek debt. Their actions melt like snow in the sun and their Asian or American counterparts do not lend them more than with suspicion. Result, some politicians in the euro area considering state aid for out of the rut. The last time an institution, Lehman Brothers, was abandoned to its fate in 2008, this resulted in the worst financial crisis since 1929.But why, every time they approach the precipice, the banks are they rescued by the States? Decryption.
What is the importance of banks in the economy?
In Europe, the sector produces about 10% of the wealth of the country. But its importance goes well beyond the turnover. Banks play an intermediary role essential. "They manage the savings of those who are most and assign credit to those who request it," says Sofiane Aboura, co-head of investment banking master and market the University of Paris Dauphine.
"The word bank includes a number of activities," said Michel Baroni, professor at ESSEC. "In France in particular, they carry almost all areas of finance: savings management, payment system via current accounts, credit to individuals and businesses, say market activities (trading, etc guaranteed fast personal loans.)..It says the model of universal banking. "Reflecting these activities, the assets of the banking sector in France are more than 3.3 times the gross domestic product (GDP), that is to say, the wealth produced by the country in one year. In Germany the figure is two and a half times GDP, and the Netherlands, more than four times.
Why save them?
"If a major bank collapses, the economy collapses," Assen Scialom * Laurence, Professor of Economics at Paris X Nanterre.All institutions, however, represent the same systemic risk, and do not necessarily require to be saved, says the economist: "What is it? What are its interconnections, therefore the risk of contagion, with the rest of the economy and the rest of the world? Can it be replaced in its business by a competitor? We must ask these questions before acting. "Still, ultimately, a bank, however small it may be, can not die without causing catastrophe if the situation is calm. "Today the market is destabilized and a bankruptcy would not affect normal times can be devastating," warns Laurence Scialom.
How to reduce the bill, in cases of salvage?
"For a state to help a troubled bank is less expensive than the laissez-faire
The former headquarters of Lehman Brothers in New York. Photo Credit: Mark Lennihan / Associated Press