https://mergersandinquisitions.com/ubs-and-credit-suisse/

You might be right; I don’t know, but I am hoping people have become a little more skeptical toward the government and “authorities” after the past few years. On the other hand, people also seem to be dumber than ever, so maybe that is just wishful thinking.

I think this is the beginning of the end of commercial banking as we know it.

These moves seem designed to further centralize banking, paving the way for a CBDC.

If everyone banks at the Fed, the government can better track citizens and their money, engage in highly targeted stimulus, and print unlimited money so bank runs are impossible…

Yup, agreed. I think everyone just inhabits bubbles these days and never thinks much about what’s going on around them, whether it’s VCs, startups, the Fed, regulators, management teams, etc. I don’t know. It’s all very depressing, but I’m not sure what the solution is, or if a solution even exists. I’m much less optimistic than I was in 2010, 2015, or even 2020.

VCs- I dont expect start up companies to do a deep dive in the risk profile of their bank. But only having a bank account with one bank is insanity. Forget about banks failing, just think how often a bank has technical issues that shut down access. Any VCer should guide a portfolio company to open an account with a second bank. But beyond that, top VCers should have had a better understanding of the bank they were blindly leading customers. They work in a risky area as it is.

Regulators – people outside of the bank and regulatory bodies pointed out the problems with banks like SVB. Any regulator would have had far more data and a better understanding of the issue. The fact they did nothing, even with the latest banking regulations removed, shows how utterly useless they are.

Management – as you said, buying long term fixed assets all at the same time and around the same rate is crazy. Not hedging that risk is beyond crazy. They should be barred from working in financial services again. Too many people here manage to fail upwards.

The West’s biggest problem is how many people how gotten complaisant.

Thanks!

All you can really do is interview around and try to find something else as a backup plan. But I don’t know how well it will work right now since most firms are currently focused on summer internship hiring for next year. Also, you would only have a few months to find something else, and it normally takes longer than that.

Honestly, I would probably just wait until they tell you something or announce specific plans for Leerink. Banks still need to preserve their hiring practices and new hires even if they’re sold or spun off. Positions tend to disappear only if the bank completely collapses, but that seems quite unlikely here.

Any advice for those incoming at Leerink?