zombie bank
1
7.7
- noun
- /ˈzɑm.bi bæŋk/
- Jargon
:
banco zombi
- The lack of justice and, more importantly, transparency, combined with the constant drag of toxic assets on zombie banks, is holding the economy back the most. Comparing the Nordic countries' and Japan's opposite responses to their banking crises and the opposite effects that were achieved supports this perspective.
Examples
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So, if Greece goes down, so do the zombie banks and zombie financial institutions that sold them "insurance."
Blog text (12) -
The money used to save our zombie banks, and with them the entire mortgage and finance systems, could have been used to save things like water purifying plants, roads, bridges, sewer systems, and don't let’s forget jobs, and ultimately, people.
Blog text (4) -
Banks became zombie banks, the central bank got its hands stuck in a liquidity trap, and Japanese twenty-somethings faced a fate worse than death: while their fathers had enjoyed lifetime employment at one company, they moved from temp job to temp job, failing to build much in the way of careers.
Blog text (13) -
The government provided aid to keep zombie banks functioning during the financial crisis.
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Many critics argue that allowing zombie banks to persist harms the economy more than it helps.
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The zombie banks in Japan struggled for years without addressing their insolvency.
Antonyms
How Solvent
Surface Forms
Morphology
Knowing 'zombie' (an undead/automaton-like being) and 'bank' lets a learner infer a bank that is effectively 'dead but still walking' — i.e., not healthy/viable yet continuing to operate. The metaphor therefore conveys the core idea, but the specific financial nuance (insolvency and reliance on external support) is somewhat technical and not fully predictable from the words alone, so it is not fully transparent.
Etymology
Zombie bank uses the image of a zombie, a person who is 'dead' but still walking, together with bank to show a bank that is 'dead' financially but kept alive by help from the government or others. That's why zombie bank means a bank that cannot pay its debts but keeps operating with outside support.