KBE - How Central-Bank Interest-Rate Policy Is Destabilizing Banks
By Justin Murray
Broadly speaking, banks operate under the concept of maturity transformation. Banks take short-term - less than one year - financing vehicles, such as customer deposits, and use that to finance long-term - more than one year - returns. These returns range from the most commonly understood loans, such as auto loans and mortgages, to investments in equity, bonds and public debt. Banks make money on the interest spread between what they pay to the owners of the money and what is earned from the operations. Banks also make money on other services,