Category Archives: Regulations and regulators

Did the European Court of Justice Just Rescue Italy’s Banks? (Updated)

The European Court of Justice just issued a ruling that may allow Italy to rescue its banks without imposing bail-ins.

COBOL and Legacy Code as a Systemic Risk

More on why legacy code at major banks is a ticking time bomb.

How Finance Costs Too Much and Fails to Deliver

The costs of looting by the financial services industry are even more staggering than you probably imagined.

Will Italian Banks Tear Down Europe?

Will Italian banks be the detonator of a political and economic crisis?

Beyond Credit Rating to Stabilizing an Unstable Economy

The third part in a three-part series on how to fix what is wrong with credit rating agencies.

Warren, Sanders, Brown, Merkley, Reed, 4 Other Senators, Ask the SEC to Get Out of Bed on Private Equity

As strange as it may seem, eight Senators ganging up on the SEC over yet another private equity lapse is a sign of a change in the zeitgeist.

Instability in Capitalist Economies and a Better Way to Think About Credit Risk

Instability in capitalist economies comes from the quest for profit. And that has implications for credit ratings that are often ignored.

Private Equity Industry Offers Intelligence-Insulting Defenses for Long-Standing Grifting Due to Refusal to Register as Broker-Dealers

Private equity firms insist that they continue to violate broker-dealer requirements. Why? So they can carry on looting.

Congress Exposes That DoJ Overruled Recommendation to Indict Money Launderer HSBC Over Too Big to Fail Worries

Why money-launderer HSBC got off so easy in 2012: it had lots of official help.

Regulator Warns Commercial Real Estate Bubble Is Biggest US Bank Risk

By the time regulators start warning of risk, as the OCC is now in commercial real estate, it’s often too late.

Deutsche Bank Chief Economist Joins SocGen Chairman in Trying to Foment Banking Crisis to Get Germany, Brussels to Blink

Why bank executives are stoking a banking crisis.

How the Corporate Food Industry Destroys Democracy

Vermont implemented a law to label goods containing genetically engineered ingredients, and it’s facing full-out attack from Monsanto.

Political and Financial Contagion from the Italian Banking Crisis: Italy’s Exit?

Eurocrat rigidity about half-baked, never-tested bail in rules could turn an Italian banking crisis into a full bore financial and political meltdown.

Brexit Empty Threats: The UK’s Fantasy of Becoming a Big Tax Haven

How a naive idea about the UK becoming a big fat tax haven to stick it to the EU reveals a lot about official and pundit thinking.