[oldalum]

Seems like a root cause of the problem is that regulators let banks value their bonds at a hold-to-maturity basis; they only have to mark to market when they are actually sold. According to Lawrence Kotlikoff (B.U. Econ prof):

"The trigger for the run on SVB was the sale of a collection of Treasuries that forced SVB to acknowledge that what it sold was worth $1.8 billion less than it had been advertising."

The bonds' value when they were bought seems irrelevant. What is the downside of requiring banks to disclose market values of their portfolio on a regular basis? (genuine question; there must be some issue with that?)

[oldalum]

Seems like a root cause of the problem is that regulators let banks value their bonds at a hold-to-maturity basis; they only have to mark to market when they are actually sold. According to Lawrence Kotlikoff (B.U. Econ prof):

"The trigger for the run on SVB was the sale of a collection of Treasuries that forced SVB to acknowledge that what it sold was worth $1.8 billion less than it had been advertising."

The bonds' value when they were bought seems irrelevant. What is the downside of requiring banks to disclose market values of their portfolio on a regular basis? (genuine question; there must be some issue with that?)