2023 Global Banking Crisis: Credit Suisse, SVB, Signature Bank...

In March 2023, anxiety gripped the global stock markets as shares of Credit Suisse crashed. The fact that it happened shortly after the collapse of California's Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) has sent jitters over the possibility that another global financial crisis similar to the Great Recession (2008) may occur. It is explained here that the crisis of Credit Suisse has a much longer history. But the co-occurrence of the two sets of misfortunes reverberated fear and panic throughout the investor world; the collapse of Signature and SVB was perceived as signaling the spread of the failure contagion from smaller to larger banks. This indicates the power of perception in decision-making by economic agents. It is explained here that the swift actions taken to contain the crisis will most likely limit the spread of the contagion. However, central banks must exercise more care in raising interest rates to limit crowding out effects on banks. Banks must henceforth take their GRC metrics more seriously.

1. Prof. Uwem Essia holds a Ph.D. degree in Economics with over 3-decade teaching research and consulting experience. He is currently engaged in personal studies and publishing.
2. Dr. Kester Ehiwario holds a Ph.D. degree in Banking and Risk Management. Currently, he works in the UK as a compliance, audit, and risk management expert.