The Role of Narratives and Transparency in Financial Markets
Trust, but Verify. This elegant expression lies at the heart of how our financial markets work. It also highlights the respective roles... Read More
Deutsche Bank and a “New Era of Transparency”
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Is Deutsche Bank finally going to usher in the new era of transparency it promised investors over a year ago? Highly unlikely.... Read More
Disclosure is Today’s Biggest Challenge
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Since the process the SEC uses to set disclosure requirements was captured by Wall Street in the 1990s, issuers have not been... Read More
Getting the Financial Crisis Narrative Right
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By now, everyone has their favorite narrative to explain the financial crisis and the effectiveness of the policy response to it. It... Read More
Media Proves Its Worth to Wall Street’s Opacity Protection Team
The tenth anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers highlighted why the media is a valuable member of Wall Street’s Opacity Protection... Read More
Lehman Collapse Highlights Role of Opacity in Bank Runs
Opacity is a necessary condition for a bank run. In the case of Lehman Brothers, not only was the investment bank opaque,... Read More
The UK’s Investment Association and Opacity
The UK’s Investment Association promotes the Opacity Protection Team’s myth quarterly reporting drives management to focus on the short-term at the expense... Read More
RBS Settlement Highlights Need for Transparency Label Initiative
The Statement of Facts released as part of the $4.9 billion RBS subprime mortgage-backed securities settlement with the US Department of Justice... Read More
Wall Street’s Business Model of Fraud: Subprime Mortgage Edition
Trust, but Verify. The three most important words in investing. By design, our financial system is suppose to ensure investors have access... Read More
Stress Tests Undermine Capitalism
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The first sign the Obama Administration was seriously uninterested in fixing the US financial system occurred when then US Treasury Secretary Tim... Read More
Bernanke’s New Financial Crisis Narrative
If at first you don’t succeed, publish a new narrative about the Great Financial Crisis. You have to do this when you... Read More
Wall Street’s Derivatives Casino Still Opaque to Regulators
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Michael Greenberger’s paper on the ongoing opacity of Wall Street’s derivatives casino serves as a reminder why restoring transparency is so important.... Read More
Kenneth Arrow and the Information Matrix
Nobel prize winning Economist Kenneth Arrow’s 2008 insights into the financial crisis highlighted a giant hole in standard economic theory. Professor Arrow observed... Read More
How Wall Street Conquered the World Without Firing a Single Shot
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The preface to Transparency Games has aged well and is more relevant today than when I wrote it: There are events, such as the... Read More
Lying About the Financial System and the Rise of Populism
Opacity in the financial system has given rise to the return of populism. In early 2009, the Committee to Save the Banks... Read More