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HomeBarack and Mitt: America’s Unfinished Business
Posted by Larry Doyle on September 6th, 2012 1:08 PM |
Should we even have to remind them?
Do the crowds on both sides of the political aisle think Americans are this naive? Well, actually, on that note, the pols from both sides are right. Many Americans remain exceptionally naive regarding far too many issues, financial and otherwise.
The media is clearly of little help in exposing the ugly underside of the Wall Street – Washington conspiracy. That said, many Americans are now far savvier than they were a few short years ago when it comes to appreciating the rackets being run by BOTH political parties, their cronies on Wall Street, and the puppets ensconced within too many of our regulators. (more…)
Peter Sivere Deserved So Much Better
Posted by Larry Doyle on August 21st, 2012 7:20 AM |
I am firmly convinced that self-regulation for Wall Street will NEVER work. The inherent conflicts of interest preclude that from happening.
Whether we have a self-regulatory model or not, though, bad practices on Wall Street need to be brought to light and properly addressed. What do I believe is the most effective means to make that happen? Promoting and protecting whistleblowers. Wall Street has little interest in this.
To think that whistleblowers will be protected and whistleblowing promoted under Dodd-Frank is naive. Why so? Do we really think career regulators Mary Schapiro and Richard Ketchum will shepherd whistleblowers and expose bad practices? (more…)
LIBOR Scandal: NY AG Takes Center Stage
Posted by Larry Doyle on August 16th, 2012 9:37 AM |
One might only guess that New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and his colleague NY Department of Financial Services’ superintendent Benjamin Lawsky are not on the distribution list for the Wall Street-Washington Incestuous Regulatory Relationship mailings. That is a good thing.
Hopefully other state regulators and attorneys general might take a cue from these two.
On the heels of Lawsky playing hardball with the Standard Chartered – Iranian Laundromat, we now see Schneiderman doing the same with seven Wall Street heavyweights implicated in the largest financial scandal in history, that is, the manipulation of Libor. Which heavyweights? (more…)
Preet Bharara On “Too Big to Prosecute”
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 27th, 2012 6:48 AM |
How is it that America has not seen more indictments and prosecutions on Wall Street? That question, perhaps more than any other, is the cause of so much underlying rage and anxiety in our country. Why is that?
I firmly believe that the overwhelming majority of people in our nation embrace the principle of fair play and understand when that principle has been violated. In the process of that violation, people want justice to be served. Then why is that we have not witnessed more prosecutions on Wall Street?
Are certain institutions — and in my opinion, certain individuals — by definition, “too big to prosecute?” In a nation of laws, no institution or individual should ever be “too big to prosecute.” Then why haven’t we seen the indictments and prosecutions of senior executives at major firms on Wall Street? (more…)
Breaking Up the Banks? . . . Just a Start
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 26th, 2012 6:50 AM |
The news yesterday that once renowned banker Sandy Weill has called for the breakup of the now “too big to fail” banks is treated as some sort of earth shattering news development. News? Really? “Sandy, where ya’ been, my man?”
In the neighborhood of my youth, news of that sort was typically used to wrap the daily catch down at the local pier.
While those on the airwaves may care to direct a measure of respect to Mr. Weill, the call to break up the “too big to fail” banks is little more than yesterday’s news. Who made this call early on? (more…)
Have Banks Become Criminal Enterprises?
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 22nd, 2012 6:41 AM |
I continue to maintain that the overwhelming percentage of people working on Wall Street are good and decent people trying to make an honest living in what has become an increasingly challenged industry.
I also maintain, and always will, that the spirit of capitalism that drives Wall Street is a necessary and vital engine if our economy and country are to recover.
I rail so hard on the failures and captures within our financial system for the very simple reason that I believe a healthy country needs healthy markets. Neither our country nor our markets are anywhere close to being healthy right now. In fact, with the news surrounding the Libor scandal taken in conjunction with word of massive money laundering within HSBC, the question begs, “Have banks become criminal enterprises?”
Barclays Libor Scandal: The Complicit Regulators
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 17th, 2012 12:40 PM |
Today’s Wall Street Journal lead editorial, New York Fed to Barclays: ‘Mm hmm’, concludes,
. . . if this is really the epic deceit and crime we are now reading about, then either new evidence needs to come to light, or the regulators who smiled and nodded and “Okayed” and “Mm hmmed” through the panic years are complicit with the banks now in the dock. They had ample opportunity to shut down this behavior, but nothing released by the New York Fed or the Bank of England suggests much more than a raised eyebrow at the time.
I am highly confident that there is plenty of supportive evidence of deceit and conspiratorial activity in the many thousands of e-mails and communications which officials have indicated they already hold. That said, I am also confident — and let’s not discount for even a second — that the regulators were complicit with the banks now in the dock. Why so confident? (more…)
Barofsky Slams Dimon/Washington: “Still a Cover Up”
Posted by Larry Doyle on June 14th, 2012 9:30 AM |
Not that there was ever any real doubt as to the cozy relationship between OUR elected officials in Washington and THEIR partners on Wall Street, but yesterday’s Senate testimony and questioning of JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon added another nail in the coffin of those in America who care for real truth and total transparency.
As CEO of JP Morgan Chase, Dimon’s job is to protect the interests of his shareholders. He was successful on that front yesterday.
As United States Senators, our elected representatives’ job is to protect the interests of American citizens. They failed miserably yesterday. (more…)
MF Global: “This Was a Massive Theft”
Posted by Larry Doyle on April 30th, 2012 7:56 AM |
Six months and counting.
The lives of countless numbers of families and individuals are likely forever changed by what transpired at MF Global. Yet there remains no real accounting nor full retribution for the fiasco which unfolded within the walls of the firm that traced its roots to the late 1700s.
Certainly we can expect that trustees and regulators will put forth some thousand page reports trying to detail the minute by minute demise of MF Global. Do you think those reports will mean anything to the lives of the people impacted? I don’t. Why? How do you recapture trust? When there is NO real trust, there is NO real justice, and NO real closure. It is that simple. (more…)
Niall Ferguson’s Keys To Economic Growth Recommended
Posted by Larry Doyle on April 29th, 2012 12:41 PM |
I truly love gaining global insights and perspectives from highly intelligent people. I had just such a treat this morning in reading a Barron’s interview with the economic and financial historian Niall Ferguson.
What did this Harvard professor have to say on a topic which should be a MAJOR point of debate for our 2012 Presidential election? A lot. Let’s navigate.
Barron’s: There are once again concerns about U.S. growth. What factors are keeping the economy from reaching what you call “escape velocity”? (more…)
