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
Trump’s Regulation Monitors
One of the Trump Administration’s stated goals is the deconstruction of the administrative state in the US by rolling back existing regulations... Read More
Deutsche Bank’s hollow apology
Shortly after settling with and agreeing to pay a several billion dollar fine to the US for its pre-2008 handling of mortgage-backed... Read More
Yes, Wall Street turns good people bad
In her excellent review of Maureen O’Hara’s new book, Gillian White shows why restoring transparency and the Transparency Label Initiative are so... Read More
The Information Matrix
As I was reading a Bloomberg column by Noah Smith, I was reminded of the simple fact the economics profession doesn’t fully... Read More
EU officials slowly concluding transparency needed to revive structured finance
Paul Tang, the EU parliament’s lead on reviving structured finance, released a working document on the EU effort to create a framework... Read More
Goldman using opacity to screw its clients shows why Transparency Label Initiative needed
To great fanfare, Obama’s Justice Department announced a $5 billion settlement with Goldman Sachs over how it sold mortgage-backed securities in the... Read More
Myth: required disclosure means investors can know what they own
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As a result of the SEC calling itself the “investors’ advocate”, a dangerous myth has taken hold in the global financial system.... Read More
How many ways did bankers manipulate Libor?
The Libor interest rate manipulation trial has been fascinating for the sheer number of ways bankers manipulated the price of money for... Read More
Another day, another opaque market rigged by bankers
It seems like only yesterday and the large banks were paying fines for rigging the price of money (Libor), the foreign exchange... Read More
Bankers rigging markets and the price of money
Deutsche Bank announced today it had entered into a deferred prosecution agreement and paid a $2.5 billion fine. Why? Because it was... Read More
Opacity, mortgage bonds and ‘crap’ emails
Occasionally, investors need a reminder of why nobody makes good investment decisions when blindly betting. Recently, there have been two prominent reminders.... Read More
Martin Fridson on transparency
In a Bloomberg article, money manager Martin Fridson articulated why the buy-side needs the Transparency Label Initiative™. Describing the impact of investors... Read More
Value of opacity to bankers: $100 billion per year
In a very interesting article, David Dayen looks at the incentive bankers had to hide behind the opacity of the securities they... Read More
Wall Street faces another suit for inadequate disclosure
New York’s attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, is preparing a lawsuit against Morgan Stanley saying the firm omitted or misrepresented information on 30... Read More