Category Archives: Regulations and regulators

The Empire’s New Asian Clothes – America’s Strategic Rebalance As Covert Retreat

Yves here. This article provide perspective on Obama’s unseemly anxiety to push through the toxic trade deal known as the TransPacific Partnership. the TPP is that it is a crucial part of Obama’s “pivot to Asia” strategy. One of its aims is to isolate China by creating a trade bloc that excludes the Middle Kingdom. The article below helps explain why non-military means of reinforcing US hegemony are particularly important now.

Congressmen Call for Hearings on Risks of Rental Securtizations

Private equity firms have been playing residential landlord for only a few years, but the impressive amount of capital they’ve deployed in this strategy means they’ve had significant impact in the markets they’ve targeted. Needless to say, that impact does not look to be very positive. A Congressman has called for hearings on rental securitizations out of concern that this structure could make this already not-too-good-looking situation much worse from the perspective of tenants and communities.

Bill Black: Dimon Does Davos, and His Board Gives Him a Raise

Yves here. It’s become tough work keeping up with the continuing large gap between Dimon hagiography in the media and his dubious accomplishments. So hat’s off to Bill Black for staying on this beat.

China Credit Worries Rise as Large Shadow Banking Default Looms

China faces the first big test of its shadow banking system, in the form of a pending default. How is it likely to fare?

How Bitcoin Plays Into the Hands of Central Bankers and Will Facilitate the Use of Negative Interest Rates

Bitcoin enthusiasts like to present it as a “power to the people” form of money, stressing its apparent lack of ownership (the “Napster for finance“). They stress the lack of need for a “trusted party” like a bank or broker to verify that a payment has been made. And many clearly relish the idea of launching a currency outside the control of central banks (plus this beats Cryptonomicon in geekery).

If you believe the hype, you’ve been had.

Michael Olenick: “Conversation with the Receptionists” – An Obamacare Skit

(Phone rings)

Receptionist: Beegbaux Medical Clinic, can I help you?

Claire’s Stores: Private Equity Broker-Dealer Violations in Action

In an earlier post, we discussed the ongoing violation of SEC broker-dealer regulations by private equity firms when they collect “transaction fees” for buying and selling companies on behalf of the funds they manage. The 1934 Exchange Act mandates that only SEC-registered broker-dealers may collect transaction-based compensation (subject only to limited exceptions which are not […]

Obamacare Enrollments Show Low Uptake by Uninsured, Hoisting Insurers on Their Own Petard

One of the few saving graces is that the health insurers’ scheme to enrich themselves known as Obamacare may be going pear-shaped from the standpoint of their profits.

Wikileaks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Environment Chapter: “Toothless Public Relations Exercise”

Wikileaks has thrown yet another wrench in the negotiations over the sellout-to-multinationals-masquerading-as-trade-deal otherwise called the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

On Elizabeth Warren’s Bill Against Using Credit Scores in Employment Screening

Since I give Elizabeth Warren a hard time when she pulls her punches, I am remiss in not giving a thumb’s up to her proposed Equal Employment for All Act, which would bar the use of credit reports in most hiring decisions.

Why is the CDC Trying to Block an Accurate Lyme Disease Test?

Yves here. While this article may seem a bit far afield for this website, it illustrates how political considerations influence science and medicine, two fields we have been indoctrinated to view as relatively free of corporate and ideological influences.

Are Fracking Fluids to Blame for Rail Car Explosions?

Over the past year or so there seems to have been far more train derailments of cars carrying crude oil that have resulted in huge, deadly explosions, and it is not a coincidence that the oil in these explosions originated from the Bakken shale formation in North Dakota.

Are Banks About to Win on Commodities Trading After Their Success in Watering Down Basel III Capital Rules?

You know it’s bad when Bloomberg’s editors attack the banks’ win against regulators, in this case, their success in watering down already-too-generous Basel III capital requirements. And they look primed to score a twofer on pending rulemaking on trading in physical commodities.