financial reform

Astonishingly, as Wall Street reform enters its final hours a tired, generic corporate refrain against regulation is gaining traction. As bigwig bankers and their lobbyist brethren fight to defeat tough new rules on derivatives—the crazy casino that brought down AIG—all their sloganeers can come up with is the trite wail that serious rules will send this risky business overseas. more »

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A coalition of conservative New Democrats, whose leader is being investigated by a Congressional ethics committee over Wall Street fundraising, has officially come out in favor of gutting financial reform. The issue they've targeted: derivatives, the most closely watched effort of the bank overhaul. Good luck in November, guys. more »

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"What do I have to do to get you into this car?"

"How much can you afford to pay every month?"

"My manager's in a good mood."

These are the car salesman cliches everybody knows. Now they're trying to add a couple more to the repertoire: more »

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Did an interview this morning on Hannah-Beth Jackson's radio show, Progressive Talk Radio in Santa Barbara.  The topic was the current state of financial reform in Washington.    Click on the "download" link and it will start playing. (There's a burst of static a few seconds in - sorry about that!).

Here it is:

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The tough derivatives overhaul proposed by Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., has emerged as the key fight in Wall Street reform. That status is well-deserved. more »

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As the House and Senate publicly iron out their differences on Wall Street reform during conference committee, the most important aspect of the overhaul is gaining strength behind the scenes. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., is standing firm on her tough derivatives bill, and continues to garner unlikely allies from within the Federal Reserve as the final vote on the provision approaches. more »

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It was a fight to the finish between two heavyweight contenders. In this corner, representing the big Wall Street interests and wearing green trunks the color of money, Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts. And in this corner, representing common sense and the American people, wearing red, white, and blue trunks, Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota. The gentleman from Massachusetts had the refs were on his side, thanks to the bout's corporate sponsors, so the outcome was a foregone conclusion. It was impressive that the fight got as far as it did, and in the end it was a split decision, but it's as they say in the boxing world: In a split decision the reigning contender always wins.

And when it comes to Capitol Hill, banks are always the reigning contender. more »

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5:15 more »

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President Obama's Department of Justice announced last week that there would be no indictments in the collapse of AIG, an event which led to a worldwide economic collapse and cost the American taxpayer trillions. As someone who once worked for AIG I was shocked, but apparently that's how this mystery ends: Hundreds of millions of victims, smoking guns in every room, and not a perp to be found anywhere.

Yves Smith is disappointed that PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the auditors who signed off on AIG's financial claims despite mounds of disturbing evidence, escaped serious legal scrutiny. She observes that our "Potemkin" financial reform (her word) won't remove the barriers that prosecutors face in pursuing secondary parties like auditors (although I believe the Supreme Court ruling she cited only addressed civil suits.) Not only is the auditor protected, but that allows the fraudster himself to use the defense that he kept his auditor informed - kind of like Bush and Cheney using John Yoo's legal opinion to inoculate themselves from criminal prosecution.

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Here's an audio clip of my appearance yesterday with Hannah-Beth Jackson on Santa Barbara progressive radio to discuss the current state of financial reform and what can be done next:

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