TSX ETF Investor Centre
Canadian Banks – Stability in Good Times, Bad Times
The global banking industry has once again been thrown into turmoil with the recent regional bank failures of Silicon Valley Bank, Silvergate Capital, and Signature Bank in the U.S., as well as the takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS Group at the behest of regulators in Switzerland. While there were specific issues impacting each of these entities, these recent failures have highlighted the risks associated with the rapid increase in overnight interest rates over the past year as central banks around the world have moved swiftly to tighten policy in response to high inflation. These risks include declining asset values (i.e. bond investments) as a result of higher rates across the yield curve, particularly for banks that run a duration mismatch on their balance sheets, as well as the potential for banks to quickly lose deposits as depositors search for higher yields in investment products and/or flee in the face of a real or perceived banking crisis.