Category Archives: Banking industry

Guest Post: Bank Lobbyists Are Not Only Trying to Kill NEW Legislation, They Are Trying to Weaken EXISTING Regulations

By George Washington of Washington’s Blog. Everyone knows that the lobbyists for the financial giants are trying to kill any tough new regulations. But they are also trying to weaken existing regulations. Specifically, Robert Borosage notes: The [derivatives] bill that the House will consider on Wednesday creates a clearinghouse, not a publicly managed exchange. It […]

When a Politician Praises “Efficiency,” Hang on to Your Wallet (Financial Reform Headfake Edition)

A fair bit of ink has been spilled on the idea that what is often called “innovation” in financial services is a fancy way of saying “extortion racket.” I was cheered when Paul Volcker put the ATM on his list of banking innovations and seemed unable to come up with anything worthwhile since then. Similarly, […]

Mad at Banksters? In or Near Chicago Oct. 25-27? You Can Do Something About It!

Dean Baker, a couple of days ago at Huffington Post, called on readers to go to Chicago to participate in peaceful protests during the annual meetings of the American Bankers Association on October 25 to 27. A coalition of community, labor, and consumer groups are organizing this “Showdown in Chicago.” If you saw Michael Moore’s […]

Massachusetts Land Court Upholds Ruling Reversing Thousands of Foreclosures

This is starting to get interesting, although it is far from conclusive. Massachusetts Land Court judge Keith Long reaffirmed a 2009 ruling (Ibanez) that invalidated foreclosures on two properties because the lenders did not hold clear title to them at the time of the foreclosure sale. Now this decision is still subject to appeal, and […]

Guest Post: Congress Removes Authority to Ban Riskiest Derivatives Trades Because “There Was Concern That A Broad Grant To Ban Abusive Swaps Would Be UNSETTLING”

By George Washington of Washington’s Blog. According to Bloomberg, the original draft of Barney Frank’s derivatives legislation: would have given the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission joint authority to “prohibit transactions in any swap” that they determine “would be detrimental to the stability of a financial market or of participants in […]

AIG Pays “Retention” Bonuses to Secretaries and Kitchen Staff; Execs Renege on Promised Repayments

An interesting contract in reporting today. Reader (Tom C) sent me the Wall Street Journal version of this story, by Michael R. Crittenden and Liam Pleven, titled “AIG Execs Returned Only $19M Of $45M In Pledged Repayments.” I decided to look at Bloomberg as well, as found one on the same subject, “AIG Should Trim […]

Banks Clamp Down on Small Business Loans, Jeopardizing Jobs

Small businesses have fair weather friends. Policymakers love to extol entrepreneurship. And in the last business cycle, even in the upswing, large corporations shed jobs while mid-sized and particularly small businesses added them. But when things get ugly, the best connected players get the breaks, and the little guy is left out in the cold. […]

Guest Post: The REAL Battle Over America’s Banking System

By George Washington of Washington’s Blog. The battle to reform the American banking system needs to include reimposing the barrier between investment banking and depository banking (Glass-Steagall), pay incentives based on what is best for Americans and not just the top executives, the end of too big to fail, and other changes which are frequently […]

The Problem With Financial Services Compensation (AIG/Pay Czar Edition)

The Financial Times reports that the so-called pay czar Kenneth Feinberg, who is in charge of overseeing compensation at TARP recipients, is going to crack down on some of the bonuses paid at AIG: The Obama administration’s pay tsar has indicated he will take a tough stance on executive pay at AIG, the state-controlled insurance […]

“Capitalism: A Love Story”

I have a weakness for seeing movies in theaters; the home variety, even with the super large screens, is just not the same. And it has been so long since I have seen a movie that all the trailers looked good to me (well, I must confess I like trailers. The tacky soda and car […]

New Accounting Rules May Undermine Consumer Lending

Repeat after me: the credit crisis was the result of too much cheap and easy lending. Ergo, any return to healthier practices means more expensive and less readily available debt. The problem is that the powers that be don’t quite grasp the implications, or to the extent they do, are still trying to have their […]

The FDIC is Not Buying What Citi is Selling

This news item verges on funny. Readers may have taken note of the fact that Citigroup was ordered by the FDIC to conduct a review of management. The floundering bank hired Egon Zehnder. The New York Times indicated that the resulting report was awfully favorable, given that the bank is one of the biggest messes […]

34 Banks Miss TARP Dividends and Almost No One Notices

I will confess I missed a post opportunity Thursday AM, when an alert reader sent a link to a USA Today story, “34 banks don’t pay their quarterly TARP dividends, ” but I decided to return to it precisely because it has gotten little attention: The U.S. taxpayers’ investments in smaller banks are increasingly at […]