If the 2008-09 GFC and the 2017 banking royal commission taught us anything, it’s how vital and impactful the financial sector is. And, in Australia at least, if the aftermath of both has taught us anything, it’s how bulletproof the sector has been, so far at least. Which is one version of the story. The other, of course, is to look at the trouble that some of the international banks got themselves into: crumbling, being acquired, quasi-nationalised and/or still carrying the scars of GFC. That, and the weight of the resultant tightening of regulations, including the need to hold more capital – which lowers the potential return to be made by shareholders, but hopefully also makes collapses less likely – have meant many international investors continue to think twice before…
