See more at http://SwitchYourBank.org. It's been years since the 2008 financial crisis, but in some ways things on Wall Street still are far too risky. Too big to fail has gotten bigger, and derivatives are still being traded at all-time highs. SwitchYourBank.org aims to continue the message established by Move Your Money (which is no longer running). We also aim to inform the public about why this issue matters, and what each of us can do to make the global economy safer.

1. SwitchYourBank.org presents
The Story of the
Megabanks
& What They Do

2. In 2008, several banks were considered
“too big to fail” and were bailed out.

3. What has happened since?

4. They’ve gotten bigger.
Assets of the 5 largest banks, in trillions
$8.7T
$6T
2006 2012
Source: Bloomberg

5. These 5 banks have more than
52% of total bank assets.
Source: Dallas Fed

6. (That’s more than the other
5,700+ banks combined.)
Source: Dallas Fed

7. Can you name the
5 largest banks?

8. We’ll list them by assets, starting with #5.
Try to guess before looking!

9. #5 Goldman Sachs: $948B

10. #4 Wells Fargo: $1,336B

11. #3 Citigroup: $1,916B

12. #2 Bank of America: $2,162B

13. #1 JPMorgan Chase: $2,290B

14. You passed! (We assume.)
But why does size matter?

15. Reason #1: Banks that are “too big
to fail” get bailed out.

16. Reason #2: These banks have massive
lobbying efforts. (Wall Street lobbyists
outnumber politicians 5 to 1.)
Source: Aljazeera

17. Reason #3: These banks make
complicated bets with other people’s
money—including deposit money.

18. These complicated bets deserve more
attention than they’re getting.

19. Michael Lewis, author of The Blind
Side and Moneyball (and a former Wall
Street salesman), explains these bets
as follows:

20. “Extremely smart traders inside Wall
Street investment banks devise deeply
unfair, diabolically complicated bets, and
then send their sales forces out to scour
the world for some idiot who will take the
other side of those bets.”
Source: Boomerang

21. The most common “diabolically
complicated bet” is called a derivative.

22. Derivatives played a major role in
the financial crisis by making the
blowup much more complicated.

23. Here’s what Warren Buffett has to say
about derivatives:

24. “Derivatives are financial weapons
of mass destruction, carrying
dangers that, while now latent, are
potentially lethal.”
Source: shareholder letter

25. Warren Buffett’s business partner,
Charlie Munger, adds:

26. “The derivatives traders have
tended to rook their own
customers. It’s not a pretty
sight. It’s a dirty business.”
Source: CNN Interview

27. The 5 largest banks have 95% of
the derivatives market.
Source: OCC

28. The global derivatives market has
grown tremendously, from less than
$100 trillion in 2000 to over $700
trillion in 2011.

29. Global Privately Negotiated Derivatives
Notional amount, in trillions
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

30. In other words, the issue of “too big
to fail” is still very relevant, and still
deserves our attention.

31. SwitchYourBank.org