BNY's Simon Rasin Calls for Back-to-Basics Approach to Liquidity Risk

Simon Rasin, an attorney at BNY, argues that the SVB collapse didn’t introduce new challenges but rather reinforced long-standing lessons in Banking 101, namely, the failure to manage core risks such as interest rate exposure, maturity mismatches, and governance.

According to Rasin, these are not new concepts, but their neglect can quickly escalate into full-blown crises. For him, sound risk conversations and disciplined balance sheet management remain as vital today as ever.

Rasin also commented on regulatory responses, praising supervisors for adapting without overreaching. He cautioned against overly prescriptive reforms that could penalize valid banking strategies. Instead, he emphasized practical resilience measures like optimizing contingency funding with the Fed and streamlining execution speed.

He closed by highlighting the importance of cross-functional awareness and collaboration across banks, noting that frontline staff—not just executives—are often the first to confront crises. Broader knowledge sharing and communication, he believes, are key to long-term institutional resilience.