Bank Holiday

Bank Holiday The news this week continues to focus on global markets, which remain in a state of near-chaos as investors worry that the banking system will be tested to its limits should Greece default on its debts. Other markets such as Italy, Portugal, and Spain also teeter on the financial brink, while the major French banks are taking the hardest drubbing in Europe, closer to home, Bank of America–whose shares have fallen 35% over the past few weeks–announced yesterday that it is going to prune 30,000 jobs and $5 billion of annual costs to begin addressing a series of missteps that have put the banking giant on its back. Most of BofA’s axe will fall on the retail banking side of the house, which of course will translate to a significant restructure of its portfolio of real estate leases. It is a reasonable bet that the latest turmoil in the financial markets will have a significant, and negative, impact on real estate, especially in money center markets such as New York, San Francisco, London, and Hong Kong. Perhaps all of those bright red Bank of America retail location signs will be repurposed for the Bank of China.