Down in Fredrick, MD, visiting with the KBRA FIG team this week. Last week we published a research note, "Will Negative Interest Rates Save Europe’s Banking System?" You can read the full report with footnotes at the link below (registration is free).
https://www.krollbondratings.com/show_report/4042
Below is the latest KBRA research report on blockchain, the enabling technology behind the bitcoin payments system. After spending several months talking to participants and organizations focused on this new approach to transferring value between individuals, we find no viable commercial business model in sight. There are however, swarms of hungry consultants, aging derivatives mavens and private equity firms seeking to profit from the hype surrounding bitcoin and the blockchain technology.
Below is the latest KBRA comment on the travails affecting the largest global banks. Global capital levels are at the highest levels ever, but investor confidence in the big banks is at an all time low. Over a century ago, J.P. Morgan told a congressional hearing that commercial credit is not based upon money or property, but character. You could substitute the word confidence for character in the exchange between Morgan and Samuel Untermyer.