Bank Failures Cause a Global Crisis: How the Complexities of United States Mortgage Securities Devastated Banks and Made the Banking Crises Global

Abstract

The crisis transformed United States investment banks that received government support and became regulated like commercial banks. United States housing losses significantly affected European banks. Disruption in financial markets, including the inability of banks to sell additional mortgage loans onto investors, had dire consequences outside the United States. HBOS, Lloyds TSB and RBS in the United Kingdom all failed due to absent management. The Swiss universal bank UBS incurred the largest foreign loss of $38 billion from United States subprime lending. Absent management in Barclays and other banks had global impact with the manipulation of benchmark interest rates known as the LIBOR scandal.