Sense on Cents

Who on Wall Street is willing to break camp and call for real change in the industry that crippled our global economy?

Strong managers and real leaders not only identify problems before they develop, but they define and implement solutions as well. No one individual or institution led us into the current economic mess and no one individual or institution will lead us out. That said, if leaders in finance want to regain a degree of credibility and respect, they can not expect to be accorded those benefits by merely identifying problems in global finance. They must also provide answers and policies which cut across the entire global economic landscape and serve the interests of all. I have yet to see this type of leadership from anybody on Wall Street or any other center of global finance.

Identifying a problem without proffering a solution is nothing short of pandering. I witness exactly that in reading the London Evening Standard’s, JP Morgan’s London Head Slams ‘Greed’ of Bankers:

One of the most senior investment bankers in London has weighed in on the controversy over pay in the industry, attacking City and Wall Street employees as “greedy” and “inept”.

Bill Winters, the co-chief executive of JPMorgan’s investment banking arm, laid the blame for the financial crisis squarely on the shoulders of his fellow bankers.

“The crisis is about the collapse of the integrated wholesale banking system. The primary culprit was a wholesale banking market where borrowing was made to the wrong people at the wrong price,” he told a debate hosted by the Investment Management Association.

Winters, an American who is seen as being close to JPMorgan boss Jamie Dimon, is regarded as a likely future leader of the Wall Street bank.

He said the banking crisis was caused by “greedy bankers, investors and borrowers” and “inept risk managers who relied on the rating agencies”.

Having worked with Bill at JP Morgan, I respect him while admitting that our paths crossed to only a limited degree. That said, his comments here are nothing more than a ‘tremendous grasp of the obvious.’  Bill, what about the solutions?

Where are you and JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon in terms of the following:

1. Total transparency in the derivatives business achieved via the utilization of TRACE

2. Compensation practices which promote full correlation between long term risks and rewards (banker compensation)

3. Total transparency for Wall Street regulatory bodies, primarily FINRA

4. Fair and equitable credit card rates and practices

5. Supporting a fiduciary standard for financial brokers

6. Support for accounting practices which offer a full and honest look into banks’ books and records

7. Legislative changes for the ratings process

Without support for these initiatives, the very culture of greed which Mr. Winters would appear to be calling into question will perpetuate.

In fact, with all due respect, his lack of speaking out at this conference or at another forum on these topics can only lead me to believe his remarks are largely disingenuous.

LD

Related Sense on Cents Commentary

For JP Morgan’s Winters’ The Ledge Got Very Narrow and The Elbows Razor Sharp’ (September 29, 2009)

This entry was posted on Monday, September 28th, 2009 at 11:17 AM and is filed under General, Wall Street. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.