bank regulation

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At NY Fed, Geithner Saw Risk, Didn't Act
At NY Fed, Geithner Saw Risk, Didn't Act
investigation
Apr 3, 2009 10:35 AM CDT

At NY Fed, Geithner Saw Risk, Didn't Act

Legacy of missing red flags trails onetime regulator to Treasury

(Newser) - Timothy Geithner spent a lot of time thinking about the derivatives trade as president of the New York Federal Reserve—in 2005 he convinced banks to digitize the market, making it far more efficient. But he never convinced them to scale back risk and never exercised his powers to force...

DC Still Turns Blind Eye to Banks: Spitzer
DC Still Turns Blind Eye to Banks: Spitzer
OPINION
Apr 1, 2009 11:38 AM CDT

DC Still Turns Blind Eye to Banks: Spitzer

Regulators attempt to save face after failing to prevent crisis

(Newser) - There’s a reason the government seems to have no control—darn the luck—over the banks it’s poured billions into: It’s trying to save face, writes Eliot Spitzer for Slate. Washington has struck a tacit bargain with Wall Street, the ex-governor says: Taxpayers bail out the financial...

Thatcher's 'Big Bang' Free-for-All Led to Bust
Thatcher's 'Big Bang'
Free-for-All Led to Bust
ANALYSIS
Mar 31, 2009 6:55 AM CDT

Thatcher's 'Big Bang' Free-for-All Led to Bust

Pioneers of British '80s deregulation dismayed at unforeseen 'side effects'

(Newser) - The British regulatory reforms that changed the face of the financial industry in the '80s allowed banks to become bloated giants, two architects of the so-called "Big Bang" changes tell the Wall Street Journal. The deregulation let London's financial sector flourish, the men say, but also allowed banks to...

Will the Real Chris Dodd Please Stand Up?
Will the Real Chris Dodd Please Stand Up?
analysis
Mar 27, 2009 12:38 PM CDT

Will the Real Chris Dodd Please Stand Up?

Senator part populist, part bank ally

(Newser) - Chris Dodd is a man of contradictions, writes David Whitford for Fortune. The Democratic senator portrays himself as a populist; he’s passed consumer-protection and family-issues laws, and he staunchly opposed the bankruptcy bill. But he’s also received loads of cash from financial companies, including AIG, and played a...

Geithner Pitches Overhaul of Financial Oversight

(Newser) - Tim Geithner today proposed a major expansion of federal regulatory powers, reports the Washington Post. In testimony before Congress, the Treasury chief called for hedge funds, derivatives markets, private equity firms, and major insurers like AIG to be brought under strict federal supervision for the first time. His plan, which...

Geithner Asks Congress for Broad Takeover Powers

Defends actions during AIG bailout

(Newser) - Timothy Geithner today asked Congress for expanded power to take the helm of big, failing  institutions like AIG and wind them down in an orderly fashion, Reuters reports. “AIG highlights broad failures of our financial system," Geithner said in unusually spirited testimony before the House Financial Services Committee....

Feds Seek Expanded Power to Seize Shaky Companies

Treasury sec should be able to seize non-bank firms, says administration

(Newser) - The Obama administration is expected to ask Congress for expanded powers that would let the Treasury secretary seize insurers, hedge funds, and other non-bank financial companies whose failure would imperil the economy, reports the Washington Post. While negotiations are ongoing, the plans to expand Treasury authority would represent a major...

Bernanke: Time to Prevent Next Crisis

(Newser) - Even as the financial crisis rages, Ben Bernanke says it’s time for broad regulatory reforms to stem future crises. Bernanke said today “too big to fail” institutions should be more tightly watched, perhaps by his Federal Reserve. He also admitted that the US hadn’t been prudent with...

Madoff Scandal Turns Up Heat on Financial Advisers

Loophole lets Madoff types profit from bad advice, they say

(Newser) - Wall Street advisers and brokers are tussling over the details of a looming regulatory overhaul as Washington takes steps to prevent another Bernard Madoff scandal, Bloomberg reports. Advisers want brokers who counsel clients to be subject to the same oversight they’re under; currently, their brokerage counterparts can profit by...

SEC Chair: At Least I Didn't Panic
SEC Chair:
At Least
I Didn't Panic
Interview
Dec 24, 2008 8:56 AM CST

SEC Chair: At Least I Didn't Panic

Cox defends record; failure to nab Madoff an 'inexplicable asterisk'

(Newser) - Christopher Cox is proud that he’s done next to nothing in the face of the financial meltdown. “What we have done is stay calm, which has been our greatest contribution,” he told the Washington Post, contrasting that with the Fed and Treasury’s frantic machinations. Yes, the...

Whom to Thank for This Mess
 Whom to Thank for This Mess 
opinion
Dec 9, 2008 2:59 PM CST

Whom to Thank for This Mess

Bad decisions starting in the '80s triggered the credit crisis

(Newser) - This financial crisis brewed over decades of bad decisions, and, in Vanity Fair, economist Joseph Stiglitz makes sure credit is given where due:
  • In 1987 President Reagan appointed anti-regulation Alan Greenspan to a regulatory post.
  • Greenspan offered the markets a "flood of liquidity" that boosted inflation and caused
...

Spitzer on Wall Street: I Told You So
Spitzer on
Wall Street:
I Told You So
OPINION
Nov 15, 2008 11:01 AM CST

Spitzer on Wall Street: I Told You So

Disgraced ex-gov explains how to rework regulatory system

(Newser) - These days, Eliot Spitzer may be famous for his horizontal escapades, but once he was a pro-regulation crusader trying to reign in Wall Street’s excesses. Spitzer tried to raise the alarm about market transparency, AIG, and subprime lending, but he and those like him were always “scoffed at...

Poll: Americans Want More Regulation

70% say lack of oversight caused economic woes

(Newser) - What caused the financial and housing crises? Three-quarters of Americans think a lack of federal regulation played at least some role in current economic woes, and 90% characterize the economy as doing badly, according to a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll. When asked about the most crucial financial focus for the...

Europe Agrees to Take It One Financial Crisis at a Time

Sarkozy's hopes dashed amid other leaders' opposition

(Newser) - Leaders of Europe’s four biggest economies did not settle on a unified plan for tackling the financial crisis, the Washington Post reports. Instead, each country will deal with banking problems as they crop up. While France’s Nicolas Sarkozy hoped for a Europe-wide plan, British and German leaders were...

Fed Loosens Reins on Private Funds Buying Into Banks

But some worry risky loans will result

(Newser) - The Fed has loosened the rules that curtailed private investments in banks, the Wall Street Journal reports. The move may inject more cash into the financial system—if private equity chooses to invest—but will raise fears of profit-hungry investors snapping up stakes in banks to make quick cash with...

SEC Chair Cox Fiddled as US Markets Burned
SEC Chair Cox Fiddled as US Markets Burned
ANALYSIS
Sep 22, 2008 3:22 PM CDT

SEC Chair Cox Fiddled as US Markets Burned

'Exceedingly cautious' approach had Paulson looking to kill agency

(Newser) - With US markets in upheaval, the head of the watchdog Securities and Exchange Commission was preoccupied with a new technology for corporate filing, Bloomberg reports. Christopher Cox’s inaction has provoked bipartisan criticism: McCain adviser Carly Fiorina said he has been “asleep at the switch,” while Democratic Sen....

McCain Team on Defense Over Health Care Comment

Dem said McCain backs banking deregulation

(Newser) - John McCain was back on the defensive over the economy yesterday, after Barack Obama accused him of touting banking deregulation in a magazine article even as Washington is scrambling to re-regulate the industry to stave off a Wall Street meltodown, the Washington Post reports. In this month's Contingencies magazine, McCain...

Greenspan: Housing Will Hit Bottom in 2009

Skilled immigrants would help end slump, he says

(Newser) - Alan Greenspan said housing prices could continue to edge lower through 2009, but should “stabilize or touch bottom” in the first six months of the year, reports the Wall Street Journal. And, the former Fed chief says, while a government bailout of Freddie Mac and Fannie May was the...

Greenspan to Government: Hands Off
Greenspan to Government: Hands Off
OPINION
Aug 5, 2008 1:15 PM CDT

Greenspan to Government: Hands Off

Market capitalism can ride out the crisis, writes former Fed boss

(Newser) - The credit crisis is far from over, and more banks and financial institutions might require government bailouts along the way, Alan Greenspan acknowledges. The crunch will relax only when home prices, "the ultimate collateral support for much of the financial world’s mortgage-backed securities," begin to stabilize, the...

US Smacked by the Invisible Hand
 US Smacked by
 the Invisible Hand 
ANALYSIS
Jul 16, 2008 2:12 PM CDT

US Smacked by the Invisible Hand

Americans are moving away from faith in free market

(Newser) - Are we losing confidence in market mechanisms? Years of unfettered free markets contributed to the current gloomy economic situation, and even the market-championing White House has lurched into government regulation of the financial world, the Los Angeles Times reports. With housing prices falling and oil prices rising, “the message...

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