Gambling on bank regulators
Since banks everywhere are opaque, there is no way for investors to independently assess the risk of their unsecured debt and equity... Read More
Big Data reforming the mortgage market
While Congress debates what to do with the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, big data is reforming the mortgage market. It is... Read More
Fed confirms none are so blind as those whose job depends upon not seeing
Periodically I delude myself into thinking senior Fed officials/PhD economists actually understand how our financial system is designed and is suppose to... Read More
Stock exchange officials confirm transparency ends proprietary gambling
While it wasn’t their intent, stock exchange officials confirmed why transparency enforces the the Volcker Rule and its prohibition on banks making... Read More
EU regulations spurring growth of independent research business
Underlying the global financial system is a basic quid pro quo. Investors get transparency in exchange for assumption of all risks related... Read More
Why do we need financial regulation at all?
In his speech, Hyun-Song Shin, the Head of Research for the BIS, asked “Why do we need financial regulation at all?”. This... Read More
The financial crisis response that didn’t fix underlying cause of crisis
In a must read Guardian column, Joris Luyendijk looks at the the response to the financial crisis over the last nine years... Read More
Banks vote on replacement for Libor
In the run-up to the financial crisis, the Libor interest rate became the most important rate in the financial world. It was... Read More
Financial regulators not up to task of preventing next crisis
For several years, I have been saying a reliance on financial regulators to prevent the next crisis only guarantees we will have... Read More
As predicted, bank contingent convertible debt toxic
Since contingent convertible debt, aka CoCo bonds, was first discussed, I have said stay away from it. What is contingent convertible debt?... Read More
Playbook for housing related financial crisis response
Kevin Carmichael wrote a terrific article in which he makes the case for the Canadian government bailing out borrowers when its current housing... Read More
Banco Popular and transparency
The recent resolution of Spain’s Banco Popular provides a terrific case study on the importance of banks providing transparency and disclosing their... Read More
Impact of transparency on commodity trading
To no one’s surprise, the introduction of greater transparency to commodity trading has dramatically changed how this trading is done. Gone are... Read More
False claims used to defend gutting Dodd-Frank
I never cease to be amazed by the gap between what defenders of Dodd-Frank claim is a problem with the financial system... Read More
Ending the reliance on rating firms
Since the financial crisis accelerated in 2008, there has been a search for a solution to the problem of investors, including banks,... Read More