The prices of a key index that banks use to gauge their subprime-related losses have been damped partly by factors that have little to do with the risk that borrowers could default on mortgages, according to a Bank for International Settlements report that could add to growing concern about how markets measure the severity of mortgage-debt problems.
The BIS report released Sunday also says global banks have been funneling more funds out of the U.S. than into it since market turmoil erupted in the summer of 2007. BIS data suggest that foreign banks hungry for dollars could be sending funds from U.S. branches to their offices abroad, while global lending to U.S. nonfinancial firms has begun flattening after years of growth.
The Switzerland-based BIS, often called the central bankers' central bank, has few formal banking duties but is a hub for economic research and global policy makers. Its quarterly report studies a widely used measure of the subprime mortgage market called the ABX. Run by Markit Group Ltd., the ABX is an index that tracks the value of securities backed by subprime loans. Because such securities barely trade, the ABX gets direction from actively traded instruments that insure against default on the securities, called credit-default swaps. The ABX often is used as a proxy for the value of mortgage-backed securities.
Housing-market factors including the likelihood that borrowers could default on mortgages have contributed to sharp declines in the ABX since last summer. But the BIS report also says that 'declining risk appetite and rising concerns about market illiquidity have provided a sizable contribution to the observed collapse in ABX prices.'
Separately, the BIS report said that, from 2000 though the middle of 2007, global banks funneled over $1 trillion more into the U.S. across their balance sheets than they withdrew. But since mid-2007, banks have sent about $321 billion more out of the U.S. than they sent in.
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国际清算银行(Bank for International Settlements)的一份报告称，与借款人可能拖欠贷款关系不大的因素在某种程度上推低了银行判断其次级贷款相关损失的一个主要指数。这可能增加对市场如何衡量次贷问题严重程度的担忧。
国际清算银行在上周日发布的这份报告中还表示，自2007年夏季次贷危机爆发以来，全球银行撤出美国的资金超过了进入的金额。国际清算银行的数据显示，急需美元的外国银行可能正在从位于美国的分行向在全球各地的办事处提供资金；而全球对美国非金融机构的贷款在经历了多年的增长后也开始陷入停滞。
总部位于瑞士的国际清算银行常被称为“央行的央行”。它正式的银行职能很少，但却是经济研究和全球政策制定的枢纽。其季度报告研究了一个被普遍采用的次级贷款市场指标ABX。ABX这个指数由Markit Group Ltd.运营，主要跟踪次级贷款支持证券的价值。因为此类证券交投低迷，ABX会从成交活跃的信用违约掉期中获得信息。ABX常被用作判断抵押贷款支持证券的价值。
借款人可能拖欠抵押贷款的可能性等房屋市场的因素导致去年夏季以来ABX的大幅下滑。但国际清算银行的报告还表示，风险偏好减弱和对市场流动性不足的担忧加剧也是ABX指数大幅下降的原因。
另外，国际清算银行在报告中称，从2000年至2007年年中，全球的银行向美国转入的资金比撤出的资金高出了1万亿美元。但自2007年年中以来，这些银行撤出美国的资金比转入的资金高出约3,210亿美元。
