‘’Banks are the zombies of the 21st century’’, told Finance and Economics Professor Anat Admati (Stanford University) an audience of Dutch policymakers on 19th October. On invitation of the Sustainable Finance Lab professor Admati gave a lecture at the Ministry of Finance in The Hague, the day after she held the prestigious Professor De Vries Lecture at Utrecht University.
With a gripping enthusiasm Admati covered many topics, all culminating in a strong focus on the banking sector and its lack of equity: banks that cannot attract equity simply do not have a viable business model according to market participants. This is basic corporate finance according to professor Admati, the “physics of finance” that also holds for banks.
