Much money, little capital, and few reforms : the 2023 banking turmoil

The events of March 2023 in the United States and Switzerland showed, once again, that banking systems remain fragile. The three US bank that failed were together close to the largest failure in history, and the failure of Credit Suisse, a Global Systemically Important Bank (G-SIB), was dramatic. The events themselves and their proximate causes are well-known and much reviewed. The 2024 Geneva report analyses the deeper weaknesses that led to the events and provides related policy insights. Complementing other analyses, the report assesses whether reforms to date suffice to deal with a changing environment and ongoing structural changes, and what additional reforms may be necessary, also given longer-term trends and the need to review issues holistically. While the specific causes of bank vulnerabilities differ between jurisdictions, many of the report’s lessons apply more generally