Some readers already found the CSPAN segment via comments in Links yesterday, so I hope you bear with me posting it for the benefit of other readers. Although I’ve done a fair bit of call in on radio, this was my first time on TV. I think readers will find the mix of questions interesting.
Read more...Why oh why is it that the US media treats financial services compensation levels as a third rail issue? Rent extraction was the driver of the financial crisis, and the financial services sector made it clear in 2009, by paying itself record bonuses on the heels of being saved from certain death, that it had […]
Read more...A news story today provides further confirmation of the rule by the banking classes in the US, with only token gestures to the rule of law. Per Bloomberg (hat tip Tom Adams), Citigroup is ponying up $75 million to settle SEC charges that the giant bank was not sufficiently forthcoming in the runup to the […]
Read more...This post first appeared on May 11, 2007 I am beginning to suspect that many are reacting to the overstimulation of the modern world – the accelerating pace of change, data overload, time pressure, work and relationship instability – by turning off their brains. The rise of fundamentalism and the “family values” push, both efforts […]
Read more...Just a reminder of one little corner of the toxic debt fiasco that has plenty of bite still left in it. The Irish banks got in a big mess with duff RE loans. The government swapped discounted bad loans for government-issued bonds. A new agency, NAMA, monitors the duff loan portfolio. There are half a […]
Read more...Joint post by Richard Smith and Tom Adams, a securities lawyer The fabulous Fab has entered his solo response to the SEC’s complaint. It provides an interesting glimpse into what are certainly complex legal strategies by Tourre, Goldman and the SEC. The list of his stated defenses are at the bottom. First, the response may […]
Read more...By Wallace C. Turbeville, the former CEO of VMAC LLC and a former Vice President of Goldman, Sachs & Co. who writes at New Deal 2.0 William D. Cohan’s op-ed piece in the July 7th New York Times had the same title as this article, but for the word “Don’t.” At first glance, I thought […]
Read more...In an interesting bit of reporting disparity, news of planned EU legislation on bank pay is a top story on the front page of the Financial Times, yet is buried in the Wall Street Journal and didn’t make the cut at the New York Times. Admittedly, that is no doubt in part due to that […]
Read more...The normally bank-friendly Fed fired an unexpected shot across the industry’s bow today, taking issue with its failure to take sufficiently tough measures to curb undue risk-taking. Per the Washington Post: The Federal Reserve has completed an initial review of compensation policies at 28 large banks it oversees and has been giving them confidential feedback […]
Read more...The New York Times yesterday featured an article by Yale economist Robert Shiller in which he discussed how financial reform had fallen short of addressing the conditions that caused the crisis. He focused on the failure to implement effective pay reform at the large financial firms that too big or otherwise too crucial to fail: […]
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Read more...By Glenn Stehle, an engineer who began working in the oil industry in 1974. After a two-year stint with Cities Service Oil Company, he worked for two years for Henry Engineering, a petroleum engineering consulting firm. Upon leaving Henry Engineering he worked as an independent engineering consultant in all facets of the oil and gas […]
Read more...Well, the BP disaster, in particular the intense press coverage of this week, appears to have provided the Administration with some very useful air cover, by diverting public attention from the final rounds in the battle to reform Wall Street. One of the common arguments against the need to create mechanisms to moderate corporate and […]
Read more...Note the fund is to be established over two years, through a combination of dividend cuts and reduction in spending. Moreover, a planned dividend payment for June 21 is being halted, which would appear to be a meaningful concession. From Bloomberg: Svanberg and Chief Executive Officer Tony Hayward agreed to set aside $20 billion over […]
Read more...By Gonzalo Lira, a novelist and filmmaker (and economist) currently living in Chile and writing at Gonzalo Lira On the occasion of the BP oil spill disaster, President Obama’s delivered an Oval Office speech last night—a masterpiece of milquetoast faux-outrage. The speech was all about “clean energy” and “ending our dependence on fossil fuels”. Faced […]
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