--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Big banks have long had private equity…" description: "\"Big banks have long had private equity divisions that put up capital for deals too complex or risky for individual shareholders to finance.\" — Alex Ber..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/720/alex-berenson-2775_banks_big-banks-have-long-had-private-equity-d_1178326.png" --- # Big banks have long had private equity divisions that put… ![“Big banks have long had private equity divisions that put up capital for deals too complex or risky for individual shareholders to finance.” quote by Alex Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/720/alex-berenson-2775_banks_big-banks-have-long-had-private-equity-d_1178326.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/720/alex-berenson-2775_banks_big-banks-have-long-had-private-equity-d_1178326.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/720/alex-berenson-2775_banks_big-banks-have-long-had-private-equity-d_1178326.png) > “Big banks have long had private equity divisions that put up capital for deals too complex or risky for individual shareholders to finance.” [Alex Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-berenson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Banks create private equity arms to fund high‑risk, complex deals that individual investors cannot. **In simple terms:** Banks fund risky deals that individuals can’t. Key Takeaway Consider private equity as a bridge for large‑scale financing. Themes finance risk private equity Mood critical analytical Type economic commentary When to use this quote - corporate acquisitions - infrastructure projects - venture funding - economic policy Key Concepts capital allocation market structure Questions to Reflect On - How do private equity divisions affect market fairness? - What safeguards could limit systemic risk? A Different Perspective Private equity can concentrate power and reduce market competition. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/banks/) [Capital](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capital/) [Customer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/customer/) [Equity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/equity/) [Finance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/finance/) [Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) [Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice/) [Private equity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/private-equity/) [Shareholders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shareholders/) ## Related quotes > [Some big banks remain wary of venture capital.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-berenson/some-big-banks-remain-wary-of-venture-capital/) [Alex Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-berenson/) > [It is a campaign to break down every barrier that holds you back. We need more than a plan for the big banks. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/it-is-a-campaign-to-break-down-every-barrier-that-holds-you-back-we/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [After Dodd-Frank, the big banks were bigger. The small banks are fewer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeb-hensarling/after-dodd-frank-the-big-banks-were-bigger-the-small-banks-are-fewer/) [Jeb Hensarling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeb-hensarling/) > [As long as the big banks are allowed to remain big, their political leverage over Washington will remain big. And as long as their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reich/as-long-as-the-big-banks-are-allowed-to-remain-big-their-political/) [Robert Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reich/) > [“Myth: Bail-in plans would recapitalize big banks. Fact: big banks are far too insolvent to remotely be in a position for such restoration.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ziad-k-abdelnour/myth-bail-in-plans-would-recapitalize-big-banks-fact-big-banks-are/) [Ziad K. Abdelnour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ziad-k-abdelnour/) > [My fantasy is to break up the big banks. I wish we would end 'too big to fail' in our banking system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-c-griffin/my-fantasy-is-to-break-up-the-big-banks-i-wish-we-would-end-too-big/) [Kenneth C. Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-c-griffin/) > [We need to remind politicians they don't work for the big banks - they work for us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-warren/we-need-to-remind-politicians-they-don-t-work-for-the-big-banks-they/) [Elizabeth Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-warren/) > [Big banks are more dangerous than standing armies, and the practice of borrowing and spending money to be paid back by the next generation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/big-banks-are-more-dangerous-than-standing-armies-and-the-practice-of/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [I bet taxpayers remember providing more than $812 billion to Citigroup and Bank of America, two Wall Street banks, in 2009 to bail them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy/i-bet-taxpayers-remember-providing-more-than-812-billion-to-citigroup/) [John Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy/) > [For example, the insurance industries and the big banks are absolutely euphoric now - on the business pages they don't even conceal it -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/for-example-the-insurance-industries-and-the-big-banks-are-absolutely/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [The question is how does Hilary Clinton fit in this broader network? She's a centralising cog. You've got a lot of different gears in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-assange/the-question-is-how-does-hilary-clinton-fit-in-this-broader-network/) [Julian Assange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-assange/) > [Often you see big companies, big banks who are eager to embrace crushing regulatory burdens because they drive up everyone's costs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-cruz/often-you-see-big-companies-big-banks-who-are-eager-to-embrace/) [Ted Cruz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-cruz/) > [Limits should be placed on how big big banks can become.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reich/limits-should-be-placed-on-how-big-big-banks-can-become/) [Robert Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reich/) > [I'm not afraid of having big banks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-warsh/i-m-not-afraid-of-having-big-banks/) [Kevin Warsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-warsh/) > [In the old days we were the challenger brand competing against the big banks, but today I go round the world and I sit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lloyd-dorfman/in-the-old-days-we-were-the-challenger-brand-competing-against-the/) [Lloyd Dorfman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lloyd-dorfman/) ## More by Alex Berenson > [One of the Internet's highest-profile companies, Priceline once dreamed of transforming the way consumer goods are bought and sold by offering customers the chance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-berenson/one-of-the-internet-s-highest-profile-companies-priceline-once/) [Alex Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-berenson/) > [Plumbing is usually boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-berenson/plumbing-is-usually-boring/) [Alex Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-berenson/) > [As they grow, companies saturate their markets, become more complex and difficult to manage, and face larger and more entrenched competitors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-berenson/as-they-grow-companies-saturate-their-markets-become-more-complex-and/) [Alex Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-berenson/) > [“If stupid people didn’t insist on thinking they were smart, the world would be a lot simpler.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-berenson/if-stupid-people-didn-t-insist-on-thinking-they-were-smart-the-world/) [Alex Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-berenson/) > [For chat-room tyros who expect to make their first million day-trading by age 27, paging through the Sunday newspaper with a pair of scissors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-berenson/for-chat-room-tyros-who-expect-to-make-their-first-million-day/) [Alex Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-berenson/) > [“Rosette disappeared onto the dance floor. Wells sat in silence for a minute, watching the dancers. The worldwide cult of fast money spent stupidly.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-berenson/rosette-disappeared-onto-the-dance-floor-wells-sat-in-silence-for-a/) [Alex Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-berenson/) > [In general, great companies prefer to grow 'organically,' as Wall Street likes to say. That is, from the inside out, by finding new markets…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-berenson/in-general-great-companies-prefer-to-grow-organically-as-wall-street/) [Alex Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-berenson/) > [Trust the Canadians to produce a game about mutual funds that is actually more boring than the real thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-berenson/trust-the-canadians-to-produce-a-game-about-mutual-funds-that-is/) [Alex Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-berenson/) > [The market always, in theory at least, looks ahead. And it's always trying to take in every bit of information that it can as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-berenson/the-market-always-in-theory-at-least-looks-ahead-and-it-s-always/) [Alex Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-berenson/) > [Individual income can grow only as fast as productivity rises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-berenson/individual-income-can-grow-only-as-fast-as-productivity-rises/) [Alex Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-berenson/) > [Mr. Snowden did not start out as a spy, and calling him one bends the term past recognition. Spies don't give their secrets to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-berenson/mr-snowden-did-not-start-out-as-a-spy-and-calling-him-one-bends-the/) [Alex Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-berenson/) > [As the Nasdaq soared in 1999 and early 2000, demand for many offerings far exceeded the supply of shares available at the initial offering price.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-berenson/as-the-nasdaq-soared-in-1999-and-early-2000-demand-for-many-offerings/) [Alex Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-berenson/) > [Wal-Mart does not do big mergers, though it will buy much smaller competitors in so-called 'tuck-in acquisitions.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-berenson/wal-mart-does-not-do-big-mergers-though-it-will-buy-much-smaller/) [Alex Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-berenson/) > [Many newly public companies are able to post a year or two of strong sales growth off a small base, but their growth almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-berenson/many-newly-public-companies-are-able-to-post-a-year-or-two-of-strong/) [Alex Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-berenson/) > [Business cycles lengthened greatly during the 20th century, as central banks learned to manage national economies by raising and lowering interest rates.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-berenson/business-cycles-lengthened-greatly-during-the-20th-century-as-central/) [Alex Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-berenson/) [Explore all 150 Alex Berenson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-berenson/) ## More Banks quotes > [What we prefer to do is operate our investment bank in a way that is like what investment banks used to be, which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-stephens/what-we-prefer-to-do-is-operate-our-investment-bank-in-a-way-that-is/) [Warren Stephens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-stephens/) > [We now have power under the Dodd-Frank legislation to break up banks. And I've said I will use that power if they pose a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/we-now-have-power-under-the-dodd-frank-legislation-to-break-up-banks/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [“Ever notice how the same politicians who claim to be against trickle-down economics have no problem bailing out banks and other politically connected businesses?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-m-mcgroarty/ever-notice-how-the-same-politicians-who-claim-to-be-against-trickle/) [Colin M. McGroarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-m-mcgroarty/) > [My nightmare scenario is that the government saves Citibank once again, as well as the other banks, and business resumes as usual. Then, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/my-nightmare-scenario-is-that-the-government-saves-citibank-once/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“The rich run a global system that allows them to accumulate capital and pay the lowest possible price for labour. The freedom that results…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-moore/the-rich-run-a-global-system-that-allows-them-to-accumulate-capital/) [Charles Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-moore/) > [With post offices and postal workers already on the ground, USPS could partner with banks to make a critical difference for millions of Americans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-warren/with-post-offices-and-postal-workers-already-on-the-ground-usps-could/) [Elizabeth Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-warren/) > [Much of what Germany and France have done in the rescue of Greece has also helped German and French banks, who for a long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-monti/much-of-what-germany-and-france-have-done-in-the-rescue-of-greece-has/) [Mario Monti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-monti/) > [The world needs banking but it does not need banks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/the-world-needs-banking-but-it-does-not-need-banks/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [Banks are the temples of America. This is a holy war. Our economy is our religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giannina-braschi/banks-are-the-temples-of-america-this-is-a-holy-war-our-economy-is/) [Giannina Braschi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giannina-braschi/) > [In the old days we were the challenger brand competing against the big banks, but today I go round the world and I sit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lloyd-dorfman/in-the-old-days-we-were-the-challenger-brand-competing-against-the/) [Lloyd Dorfman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lloyd-dorfman/) > [“The kind of data and the data-analytical perspective privy to banks is quite unique to banks.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hendrith-vanlon-smith-jr-ceo-of-mayflower-plymouth/the-kind-of-data-and-the-data-analytical-perspective-privy-to-banks/) [Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hendrith-vanlon-smith-jr-ceo-of-mayflower-plymouth/) > [My father, Cecil Banks Mullis, and mother, formerly Bernice Alberta Barker, grew up in rural North Carolina in the foothills of the Blue Ridge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kary-mullis/my-father-cecil-banks-mullis-and-mother-formerly-bernice-alberta/) [Kary Mullis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kary-mullis/) > [If your only arbiter of anything is money, really you should... go and rob banks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-dickinson/if-your-only-arbiter-of-anything-is-money-really-you-should-go-and/) [Bruce Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-dickinson/) > [No paper trail means no banks. And no banks means cash houses. -Mia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fast-five/no-paper-trail-means-no-banks-and-no-banks-means-cash-houses-mia/) Fast Five > [I did something that challenged the banking world. Conventional banks look for the rich; we look for the absolutely poor. All people are entrepreneurs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-yunus/i-did-something-that-challenged-the-banking-world-conventional-banks/) [Muhammad Yunus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-yunus/) [Browse all 387 Banks quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/banks/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Big banks have long had private equity divisions that put up capital for deals too complex or risky for individual shareholders to finance.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alex Berenson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-berenson/big-banks-have-long-had-private-equity-divisions-that-put-up-capital/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Banks" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-berenson/big-banks-have-long-had-private-equity-divisions-that-put-up-capital/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/720/alex-berenson-2775_banks_big-banks-have-long-had-private-equity-d_1178326.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/720/alex-berenson-2775_banks_big-banks-have-long-had-private-equity-d_1178326.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/720/alex-berenson-2775_banks_big-banks-have-long-had-private-equity-d_1178326.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Big banks have long had private equity divisions that put up capital for deals too complex or risky for…” — Alex Berenson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alex Berenson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-berenson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Big banks have long had private...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-berenson/big-banks-have-long-had-private-equity-divisions-that-put-up-capital/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-berenson/big-banks-have-long-had-private-equity-divisions-that-put-up-capital/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```