Billionaire Mark Walter’s brief ownership stints at the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team (he sold his stake this month) and Chelsea Football Club (where he is seeking to sell too) are unlikely to be mourned. But the flak he got from sports fans is nothing compared with the fallout that may be looming in financial markets.
The deals appear to be linked to a dash for cash related to scrutiny of previously hidden “affiliated investments” between different parts of Walter’s business empire. This, though, may prove more than a one-off event in the wider market. Walter was a pioneer in the now fashionable practice of combining private credit asset managers with life insurers. Some regulators rightly seem nervous about sector-wide problems.
When the global financial crisis blew up nearly two decades ago, there were multiple factors that fuelled it. Many stemmed from an inherent bug of banking. Banks borrow most of their money on a short-term basis, from depositors or in the overnight interbank market, and lend it for more extended periods.