Zombie Banks

An in-depth look at the problems surrounding zombie banks and their dangerous effect on the global economy

“The title is worthy of a B movie, but it's also apt. Bloomberg News reporter Yalman Onaran, supported by former U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. chief Sheila Bair - who provides a foreword and numerous interviews - urge that insolvent banks both small and too big to fail be allowed to do precisely that. Reading bank balance sheets is not everyone's idea of a good time. But Mr. Onaran, with support from Ms. Bair, does the chore and explains what it means. Mr. Onaran shows that the process of rescuing dead and dying banks is increasing systemic risk in the global banking system. And that is really more frightening than scream flicks from Tinseltown.” -- Financial Post

“Yalman Onaran knows of putrid financial institutions, having written about them in his native Turkey so successfully he brought down a few in Istanbul in the late '90's.” -- Huffington Post

“Do We Love Zombie Banks? The new book by Yalman Onaran of Bloomberg News, Zombie Banks: How Broken Banks and Debtor Nations Are Crippling the Global Economy, is a well-organized and clearly written discussion of the use of leverage to provide growth in many different economies. Onaran has carefully researched the zombie phenomenon and makes some important points in this concise volume about both public policy and the concerns of investors. One of the more interesting early threads in the book is the juxtaposition of the experience of the US in the S&L crisis and Japan in the 1980s and 1990s with the US today. Zombie Banks is a good review of the latest thinking about the ebb and flow of the political economy.” -- R. Christopher Whalen, author of Inflated

Zombie banking has become standard operating procedure for big debtor nations. They prop up failing institutions, print money, and avoid financial corrections. But in an attempt to prolong the inevitable, bigger problems are created. The approach used now has not, and will not, work. This timely book reveals why. Zombie Banks tells the story of how debtor nations and failing institutions are damaging the long-term prospects of the global economy.

Author Yalman Onaran, a veteran Bloomberg News reporter and financial banking sector expert, examines exactly what a zombie bank is and why they are kept alive. He also discusses how they hurt economic recovery and what needs to be done in order to restore stability. Along the way, Onaran takes an honest look at how we arrived at this point and details the harsh realities that must be faced, and the serious steps that must be taken, in order to get things headed in the right direction.

• Puts insolvent banks and debtor nations in the spotlight and examines how they are crippling the global economy
• On the record sources include Paul Volcker, Joseph Stiglitz, Sheila Bair, and many more bank executives, regulators, politicians, and policymakers in the United States and abroad
• Takes the complexity of the current situation and translates it in a way that makes it understandable

While the short-term measures taken to stave off depression and rejuvenate economic growth may offer hope, they are unsustainable over the long term. Get a better look at what really lies ahead, and what it will take to improve our economic situation, with this book.

Foreword ix

Preface xi

Cast of Characters xv

Chapter 1 Zombies in Our Midst 1

Chapter 2 Lessons Not Learned 15

Chapter 3 Europe’s Sovereign Blues 23

Chapter 4 Germany’s Untouchable Zombies 35

Chapter 5 Ireland’s Zombies Bring the House Down 51

Chapter 6 The Reincarnation of Iceland’s Banks 67

Chapter 7 U.S. Zombies on IV Drip 81

Chapter 8 The Fight to Rein in the Banks 97

Chapter 9 To Foreclose or Not to Foreclose? 113

Chapter 10 Bigger Banks, More Derivatives, Higher Risk 125

Chapter 11 Killing Zombies and Preventing Their Return 137

Epilogue 149

Notes 157

About the Author 175

Index 177

Yalman Onaran is a veteran financial reporter at Bloomberg News and has studied bank insolvency for decades. One of the first reporters to break the news of the collapse of Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns, he also opened the Istanbul bureau of Bloomberg News and exposed thirteen insolvent Turkish banks which the government was allowing to continue to operate. Onaran's work has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Bloomberg, Businessweek, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and numerous other news outlets around the world.

Zombie banks are running amok. With net values of less than zero, these institutions continue to operate thanks to the help of national governments that prop them up, print more money, and allow them to avoid financial punishment. Presenting an in-depth look at the issues surrounding this financial phenomenon, Zombie Banks tackles the terror head on, demonstrating how this practice has failed in the past, and why it's destined to do so again.

This revealing new book examines what zombie banking is, why it is practiced, and why it doesn't work. Looking at examples from around the world, it proves that the vast sums invested in keeping these banks afloat has failed to save the United States, the EU, or Japan from their current economic rut, leaving them in just as poor financial shape as before the market crash, only now with reduced resources for the future. Zombie banks are dangerous and positioned to prevent economic recovery. Only by closing the books on these freaks of finance can any country hope to start rebuilding. Author and Bloomberg News reporter Yalman Onaran presents an honest look at how we arrived in this position, bringing together commentary from bank executives, regulators, politicians, and policymakers from around the world, including Joseph Stiglitz and Sheila Bair.

Refusing to shy away from the harsh realities that need to be faced, this book outlines the essential steps that must be taken to get rid of these institutions once and for all. Transforming this highly complex financial issue into something that general business readers and financial professionals alike can understand, Zombie Banks is a must-read for anyone interested in grappling with one of the true monsters of the financial world.

"Yalman Onaran unravels the common thread that runs through most of our recent financial debacles—big banks with a great deal of leverage that take on crazy risks. And when these banks fail, politicians and regulators consistently prefer to find ways to keep them going as "zombies" that slow recovery and create further crisis waves around the world. Read this book if you would like to understand why the road back to full employment will be so long and difficult. A brilliant and timely contribution; disturbing in every detail."—SIMON JOHNSON, Author, 13 Bankers, and professor, MIT Sloan School of Management

"If you don't believe that zombie banks-big banks that should have been left for dead, but instead escaped the grim financial reaper through extensive world-wide government backing-can't cause further global economic destruction, you need the truth. Read Yalman Onaran's razor-sharp, bone-chilling, exceedingly well-documented book, and be afraid. Be very afraid."—NOMI PRINS, Author of It Takes a Pillage

"Zombie Banks is a good read, and that's hard to do when you are explaining what we must do to save our largest banks from themselves. I wish Zombie Banks had been in print during the debate on the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act. It is an essential tool for regulators and policymakers engaged in avoiding another financial crisis."—TED KAUFMAN, former U.S. Senator

"Good banking was one of the reasons the West was able to grow faster than the rest of the world in the past two centuries. This book shows how bad banking has helped put all that at risk."—JOHN BRUTON, former Taoiseach (Irish prime minister)