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So now Sheila Bair wants to require private equity investors maintain a 15% Tier 1 ratio at banks they own (vs. 8% for non-PE investors) and hold their bank investments for at least three years before selling. Wilbur Ross is not happy:
Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross, whose investment firm was part of the private-equity consortium that acquired failed Florida bank BankUnited, said he was surprised by the restrictions in the FDIC proposal. The requirements are "harsh and discretionary," he said.
"I think it could guarantee that there will be no more private equity coming into banks," Mr. Ross added.m [Emph. added]
Ross is being circumspect. Bair’s rules will ensure PE investors stay away in droves. It’s not clear what makes private equity investors so different from other bank investors, by the way. Not lack of banking experience: Ross, recall, partnered with John Kanas as part of the BankUnited deal. Oh, and there‘s this:
Beyond the capital requirements, the proposal would prevent certain buyers operating under "complex and functionally opaque ownership structures" to buy a failed bank, and could require investors that own other banks to provide cross-guarantees, meaning the banks should rely on each other if one needed capital.
Great! So one bad bank investment could torpedo a whole portfolio. If Sheila Bair doesn’t want any more private equity money in banking, she should just come out and say so. . . .
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