????華爾街大行一直試圖在歐洲危機中能先人一步。這可能還遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)不夠。

????今年早些時候，很多美國銀行宣布已顯著降低在歐洲最差經(jīng)濟體的敞口。當(dāng)歐元危機看來即將再度升溫之時，這類消息受人歡迎。但鮮為人知的是在華爾街削減希臘、愛爾蘭和葡萄牙敞口的同時，它也在加大對意大利、法國和其他似乎相對安全的歐洲國家的貸款和債券購買。在當(dāng)時看來，這似乎是審慎的風(fēng)險性投資。但現(xiàn)在人們開始擔(dān)心這些國家將來違約的風(fēng)險可能高于原先設(shè)想。

????但上周末歐洲多國被迫出手救助西班牙銀行的消息，讓人們開始擔(dān)心歐洲一些經(jīng)濟規(guī)模相對較大的國家將來違約的風(fēng)險可能高于原先設(shè)想。這對于美國銀行業(yè)可能也是一個問題。

????比如高盛（Goldman Sachs）就在今年前3個月購買了22億美元的意大利債券，而意大利被廣泛視為可能是繼西班牙之后下一個陷入困境的國家。美國銀行（Bank of America）今年前3個月也在投資組合中加入了超過6億美元的意大利國債。摩根士丹利（Morgan Stanley）繼上年押注法國國債走低后，也增加了5.55億美元的法國國債。

????這只是我們可以看到的敞口。美國銀行業(yè)相比過去更多地披露了歐洲敞口，大部分都涉及過去一年左右被視為危機最為深重的國家，如希臘、愛爾蘭和葡萄牙。高盛、美國銀行和摩根大通（JP Morgan Chase）的財務(wù)報表上依然沒有提供在法國的貸款和公司債敞口細(xì)節(jié)。美國最大的幾家銀行沒有一家披露可能因此將在德國或歐洲損失多少。

????華爾街公司和美國大銀行近來可能已增加了在歐洲經(jīng)濟大國的業(yè)務(wù)活動。美國銀行需要更多資本來滿足新的監(jiān)管要求。既然不想出售更多股票，唯一的選擇只能是增加利潤。但如今美國經(jīng)濟增長緩慢，樓市疲弱，利率低企，在這樣的形勢下要實現(xiàn)利潤增長很難。因此，很多美國銀行轉(zhuǎn)向歐洲，希望在當(dāng)?shù)劂y行苦苦掙扎之際尋求擴張和競爭機會。高盛總裁蓋瑞?科恩最近在向投資者和分析師演示時就表示，高盛可以通過接管海外競爭對手的客戶而獲益。但這么做的同時，高盛承擔(dān)的歐洲風(fēng)險也將隨之上升。

????Wall Street firms have been trying to stay one step ahead of the European crisis. That might not be far enough.

????Earlier this year, a number of U.S. banks disclosed that they had significantly cut their exposure to Europe's most troubled economies. That was welcome news at a time when the Euro crisis appeared to be heating up again. But what got little notice was that while Wall Street firms were cutting their exposure to Greece and Ireland and Portugal, they were increasing their lending and bond buying in Italy, France and other European nations that seemed more secure. At the time that might have seemed like prudent risk taking.

????Over the weekend, though, European nations were forced to bailout Spain's banks. That's raised fears that the larger European economies might be in more danger of default than earlier thought. And that might be a problem for U.S. banks as well.

????Goldman Sachs (GS), for instance, bought $2.2 billion worth of bonds in Italy, which is widely seen as the next troubled nation after Spain, in the first three months of the year. Bank of America (BAC), too, added over $600 million of Italian government bonds to its portfolio in the first three months of the year. Morgan Stanley (MS) added $555 million in French government bonds, after largely betting against the nation's debt in the year before.

????And that's just the bets we can see. While the banks now disclose more about their Europe bets than they used to. Most of the detail has to do with the countries that have been seen for the past year or so as the most troubled, like Greece, Ireland and Portugal. The financial statements of Goldman and Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase (JPM) still give no detail about those banks' lending and credit exposure in France. None of the U.S.'s largest banks disclose anything about how much much they stand to lose in say Germany, or Europe overall for that matter.

????MORE: Four reasons why the euro will survive

????It is likely that Wall Street firms and U.S. large banks have recently been upping their activities in Europe's largest economies. U.S. banks need more capital in order to meet new regulatory requirements. And they don't want to have to sell more shares to do so. The only other option is to increase your bottom line. But that's hard to do in a slow U.S. economy, still struggling with a housing downturn, and low interest rates. And so a number of U.S. banks are looking to Europe to expand and pick up business at a time when local banks are struggling. At a recent presentation for investors and analysts, Goldman's president Gary Cohn said that Goldman could benefit from Europe's financial troubles by picking up customers for weaker overseas rivals. But to do so, Goldman will have to up what it could loose in Europe as well.