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HomeAmar Bhide Questions Wall Street’s Criminal Enterprise
Posted by Larry Doyle on June 21st, 2011 8:08 AM |
Are proposed banking regulations and capital standards too stringent as JP Morgan’s CEO Jamie Dimon would have us believe? Are they not strict enough and has Washington properly addressed the critical issues within these topics for the future health and well being of our overall economy?
Why is it that the American populace is forced to view this regulatory debate as an either/or situation, that is too much regulation vs not enough. The fact is, we have allowed both the Wall Street and Washington camps to frame this debate.
That error in judgment and in practice means we will continue to encounter many of our current problems as we navigate our future economic landscape. I broached this reality two years ago in writing, Future Financial Regulation: Not a Question of Sufficiency, But of Transparency and Integrity.
This morning I witnessed Amar Bhide, Thomas Schmidheiny Professor at Tufts University Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, pull no punches in hitting the same nerve. Let’s navigate. (more…)
SEC and FINRA “Accountability Is Impossible Without Transparency”
Posted by Larry Doyle on June 17th, 2011 6:46 AM |
“Good corporate governance is a system in which those who manage a company — that is, officers and directors — are effectively held accountable for their decisions and performance. But accountability is impossible without transparency.”
Truer words were never spoken. The above statement very succinctly highlights a cornerstone principle of Sense on Cents. Whomever issued this proclamation would certainly seem to be a strong candidate for the Sense on Cents Hall of Fame. Regrettably not.
Our current SEC chair Mary Schapiro offered those pearls of wisdom in December 2009 and the Washington Post concluded its commentary SEC Tightens Rules On Investment Advisers, Corporate Transparency with that quote from Ms. Schapiro. If only Mary would practice what she preached. (more…)
A Chance to Expose the Wall Street-Washington Incest
Posted by Larry Doyle on June 7th, 2011 6:55 AM |
Truth, transparency, and integrity.
The compromising of these virtues may be the cost of doing business in our nation but make no mistake the price we collectively pay is enormous. Whether in Washington or on Wall Street, the ability to compromise our prized virtues has truly been raised to an art form.
From derivative transactions which disguise unprecedented levels of risk to bond indentures which require advanced legal degrees to interpret, our ‘friends’ on Wall Street with assistance from ‘their’ friends in Washington have displayed little regard for the aforementioned virtues which are the foundation for real ‘sense on cents’.
More often than not,though,the violation of our virtues is viewed in an impersonal light. Wall Street and Washington are behemoths. The American public and investors at large are faceless. In my opinion, our financial services industry and government would just as soon keep it this way.
Let’s challenge them. (more…)
I Will Be Reading ‘Reckless Endangerment’
Posted by Larry Doyle on May 26th, 2011 5:49 AM |
There are only a few books written on our financial crisis that I have felt compelled to read. I thoroughly enjoyed The Big Short by Michael Lewis. I strongly recommend 13 Bankers by Simon Johnson and James Kwak. Ruthless by Phil Trupp explores and exposes the largest scam on Wall Street, that is the auction-rate securities travesty, without parallel.
What is the next book I will be reading? After having listened to a Bloomberg Radio interview yesterday with The New York Times’ Gretchen Morgenson and Graham Fisher’s Josh Rosner, I will next be reading Reckless Endangerment.
I did not want the Bloomberg interview to end yesterday as Morgenson and Rosner were pulling no punches in naming names and exposing the stench of what I have defined as the Wall Street-Washington incest.
I have no doubt that America continues to suffer at the hands of so many intimately engaged in this incestuous activity. Will anything be done to expose and eradicate the incest? (more…)
President Obama, “Are You In?”
Posted by Larry Doyle on May 25th, 2011 7:57 AM |
Information is everything.
Regular readers of Sense on Cents are well aware of my having written that statement on many an occasion. Those on Wall Street who gain early access to critical information have a decided advantage. Those in Washington who gain the upper hand in controlling the flow of information are also at a decided advantage.
As these realities become ever more prevalent, Americans and people worldwide are working harder and digging deeper to attain unbridled access to information in order to determine the truth and promote transparency. With major media outlets often failing us in these pursuits, where do we turn for this information? The internet.
Against this backdrop, I am not surprised to see political powers in Washington accept and embrace the reality of the power of the information superhighway and put an ‘eye in the sky’ in order to monitor the traffic. To what do I allude? (more…)
Merrill Lynch Lawyer Told Eliot Spitzer: “Be Careful, We Have Powerful Friends”
Posted by Larry Doyle on April 18th, 2011 8:29 AM |
Is the need to repair the health of our financial system SO GREAT, that we should be willing to allow the basic rights of individuals and the laws of our land to be trampled and violated in the process? In my opinion, this very question is central to the rage that burns in so many hearts across our great land.
Bailing out banks may be anathema to those who love and cherish capitalism BUT not pursuing justice and real accountability for the transgressions of those individuals and those institutions central to our crisis is sickening. I believe it is inherently un-American to allow these transgressions to pass without proper prosecution. Which transgressions? (more…)
Is Capitalism Dead?
Posted by Larry Doyle on April 11th, 2011 8:20 AM |
While Uncle Sam in the persons of Ben Bernanke, Tim Geithner et al may promote the fact that our capital markets currently are a reflection of a rebound in capitalism, they would be wrong.
Our markets and the Wall Street banks that dominate them no more embody the true tenets of capitalism than the incestuous nature of the Wall Street-Washington relationship truly represents the best interests of the American public. As The New York Times highlighted this weekend, Banks Are Off the Hook Again,
Americans know that banks have mistreated borrowers in many ways in foreclosure cases. Among other things, they habitually filed false court documents. There were investigations. We’ve been waiting for federal and state regulators to crack down. (more…)
Will Wall Street Mortgage Settlement Talks Halt Homeowner Abuse?
Posted by Larry Doyle on April 7th, 2011 5:57 AM |
Call me old fashioned but the idea that those engaged in abusive, and very likely fraudulent, business practices are allowed to negotiate a settlement strikes me as un-American.
That said, the world of unintended consequences in our Uncle Sam and Wall Street dominated economic system brings us just such an un-American approach in terms of addressing our current mortgage mess.
Negotiate? Settlement? Growing up in Boston in a family full of lawyers, I was under the impression that fraud and abuse likely got you 5 to 7 years in a medium security facility and maybe you got out in 3 to 4 with good behavior. Perhaps that form of justice still applies to you and me but for the large monied interests who run this country, we’re talking negotiations and settlement. Wow!! Little wonder why the rage in our nation directed at the Wall Street-Washington incest continues to burn so strongly. Let’s navigate. (more…)
What’s Really Going on at the SEC?
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 10th, 2011 9:44 AM |
How do you view the local cops on the beat within your hometown? I recall fondly looking up to the ‘men in blue’ as a young boy in Boston. The general admiration and respect for our law enforcement back then certainly did not mean that there were not improprieties occurring. We should not be that naive. That said, the institution of law enforcement itself definitely commanded respect. Can we say the same for those enforcing financial regulations today? Regrettably the record over the last number of years shows significant shortcomings.
These shortcomings at the SEC were supposed to change under the leadership of Mary Schapiro. (more…)
Matt Taibbi Exposes Wall Street’s Regulatory Capture Strongly Recommended
Posted by Larry Doyle on February 17th, 2011 6:30 AM |
Regular readers may be accustomed to my designating the relationship between our financial industry and the political crowd as the “Wall Street-Washington incest.” The technical term for this relationship is regulatory capture, as defined by our investing primer:
…the process by which regulatory agencies eventually come to be dominated by the very industries they were charged with regulating. Regulatory capture happens when a regulatory agency, formed to act in the public’s interest, eventually acts in ways that benefit the industry it is supposed to be regulating, rather than the public.
Bingo!! That’s the incestuous relationship we’re talking about.
Is the game really on the up and up? How does regulatory capture work? Who are the financial cops really protecting?
Thank you to the number of readers who pointed out to me an amazing expose of regulatory capture written by Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone. Taibbi provides extensive detail in writing, Why Isn’t Wall Street in Jail? This article is a must read. (more…)
