“Nearly seven years after the financial crisis, the uncomfortable truth for the banking industry is that populist anger remains alive and well. “Public skepticism of large financial institutions has permeated the debate on Capitol Hill and around Washington, defining the contours of the fight over regulatory policy. “It is also increasingly seeping into the campaign […]
“A district court judge in the US has thrown out investor lawsuits against Barclays and a host of exchanges, dismissing claims that the bank rigged its “dark pool” trading venue in of high-frequency traders. “The multi-district litigation was part of a litany of claims set off by Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt, Michael Lewis’s […]
“The sharp drop in the stock and commodities markets on Monday raised some critical questions for policymakers, touching on everything from whether asset managers are systemically risky to if the central bank would now delay raising interest rates. “The upheaval was not necessarily unexpected, as several analysts and even Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen […]
“Your editorial fails to mention that conflicted investment advice costs Americans saving for retirement tens of billions of dollars a year in lost savings. Due to an outdated 40-year-old rule riddled with loopholes, brokers and insurance agents are allowed to recommend investments that pay big commissions, saddling their clients with huge fees and low returns. […]
“The failure to prosecute bankers as a result of the financial crisis has sparked an ongoing debate about whether enforcement officials lacked the will to move forward with any cases—or didn’t have enough proof that any crimes had been committed. “Far from fading into the background, the issue remains in the forefront as policymakers debate […]
Listen to the Corporate Crime Reporter Morning Minute for August 21, 2015 on the SEC’s $180 million settlement with Citigroup for defrauding investors by Russell Mokhiber here.
“In the roughly seven years since the failure of Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns and the near-failure of many of the largest U.S. financial institutions, it is abundantly clear that criminal or civil charges against individuals related to the 2008 meltdown are never going to come. “Former Attorney General Eric Holder said in February that, […]
“Last month, the nonpartisan financial reform organization Better Markets put out a report claiming that the total cost for the 2008 financial crisis and resulting recession reached $20 trillion. The number comes from an estimate of how much of a toll the crash put on the gross domestic product with high unemployment/underemployment and the hollowing out […]
“A federal appeals court asked for the Delaware Supreme Court’s advice in a $6.25 billion suit against JPMorgan’s Chase & Co.’s board of directors that could reshape how boards respond to allegations of wrongdoing (Espinoza v. Dimon, 2d Cir., No. 14-cv-01754, question certified, 8/12/15).” Download the story, which includes comments from Better Markets President and CEO Dennis Kelleher, below. Reproduced with […]
“Better Markets does a comprehensive wrap up on the Department of Labor’s marathon four-day hearing on its fiduciary standard proposal for retirement investment advisors. Current law allows brokers and other advisors to put their economic interests above the best interests of clients saving for retirement. The Department of Labor has proposed an updated rule that […]
“Financial regulation is emerging as a “prominent” issue in 2016 race as both Democratic and Republican presidential candidates seek to tap voters’ sense that Wall Street still poses a “threat and a danger” to country, Better Markets CEO Dennis Kelleher says in interview.” *** Click here to read the full Bloomberg article by Kim Chipman […]
“The industry, naturally, treats this as the end of civilization as we know it. During a four-day hearing by the Department of Labor this week, an industry lobbyist fretted that “the new conflict of interest and fiduciary definition rules will generate uncertainty, cost and potential liability.” The life insurance industry warned that the rules would […]
“Tough new regulatory requirements for regional banks exceeding $50 billion in assets are costly, but much of that toll would remain even if Congress changed the asset threshold, according to a provocative new paper. “The paper by Federal Financial Analytics said the heightened rules could cost a combined $2 billion annually for 20 regional players […]
“The Bank of England will study the cumulative economic costs of financial regulations introduced since the global financial crisis, it said on Tuesday, after the government told it to help promote competition and investment. “Britain spent billions bailing out failing banks in 2008 and 2009. Despite continued public anger over the role of the banks […]
Better Markets released an extensive Cost of the Crisis report detailing how the 2008 financial crash and the economic catastrophe it caused will cost the United States more than $20 trillion. The Report was released the day before the fifth anniversary of President Obama signing the historic Dodd-Frank Financial Reform and Consumer Protection Act into […]
The two key authors of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law join Better Markets in marking the fifth anniversary of this historic financial reform law, which is helping to prevent another devastating financial crash and protect the American people. Watch the segment on C-SPAN here.
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew discuses the importance of financial reform, and protecting the American people from another devastating financial crash in a keynote address at Better Markets’ event marking the fifth anniversary of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law. Watch the speech on C-SPAN here.
“Wall Street is rarely outmaneuvered when it comes to public policy. The large brokerages and investment banks have a lot of money and influence in Washington, and any proposed rules they perceive to be ‘unworkable’ are usually smothered in challenges and demands for further analysis, or killed by sympathetic politicians. So Dennis Kelleher has chosen to […]
“Executives from two of the biggest names in corporate-bond trading said concern about liquidity is overdone.” *** “Dennis Kelleher, president of Better Markets, which advocates for more stringent financial regulation, challenged some oft-cited statistics in the debate, including the decrease in dealer inventories. The drop in inventories of corporate bonds is small and is made […]
“Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said Monday that the Obama administration will continue to defend the Dodd-Frank Act amid Republican efforts to water down the law, even as one of its namesakes suggested changes to it may be necessary. “We have seen attempts to roll back key safeguards by slipping complex provisions into unrelated bills,” Lew […]
“Five years ago today, Barack Obama signed one of the most important but least understood bills of his presidency: the Dodd-Frank financial regulation overhaul, which represents his main response to the enormous financial crisis that arrived immediately before his election. The law has many detractors and few fans. Pundits argue that it either suffocates the […]
“For all of the economic issues that Hillary Clinton ran through during her politics-heavy economic policy speech—from raising the minimum wage to overhauling the capital gains tax—it’s just as instructive to look at what she left out.” *** “Following the Democratic front-runner’s first major economic policy speech of the campaign, Republicans were quick to accuse […]
Dennis Kelleher, President and CEO of Better Markets, discusses reining in Wall Street on MSNBC’s Ed Show: “Senators Elizabeth Warren, Maria Cantwell and John McCain are sponsoring a bill that would revive the Glass Steagall Act and rein in Wall Street. Sen. Cantwell, Richard Farley and Dennis Kelleher weigh in with Ari Melber.” Watch the […]
“NEW YORK — Hillary Clinton gave a big economics speech here on Monday, and the snap reaction among Wall Street investors, economists and ardent financial reformers who thrill to the soak-the-rich rhetoric of Bernie Sanders was a collective: ‘Meh. What’s next?'” *** “Financial reformers gave her mixed grades. ‘It’s a good start, but after all […]
“WASHINGTON — Federal regulators on Monday said they now had a deeper understanding of one of the strangest market moves in recent Wall Street history.” *** “On the other side, supporters of the overhaul of the financial system have taken up the report as evidence that Wall Street overstepped in using one market move to […]
“SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Look out, China. The Big Board on Wednesday suspended trading in all stocks. OK. Bad jokes aside, the sudden and unexplained halt in trading Wednesday at the New York Stock Exchange should alarm investors. Even if the NYSE is not the victim of cyber terrorism and is simply experiencing a regular […]
“Eric Holder has gone back to work for his old firm, the white-collar defense heavyweight Covington & Burling. The former attorney general decided against going for a judgeship, saying he’s not ready for the ivory tower yet. ‘I want to be a player,’ he told the National Law Journal, one would have to say ominously.” […]
“Banks don’t have a monopoly on systemic risk. While everyone remembers the collapse and subsequent bailout of global insurance company AIG back in 2008, other nonbanks like GE Capital, money market mutual funds, and the short-term wholesale funding markets also contributed significantly to the financial crash of 2008. That happened because banks and nonbanks alike […]
“Earlier this month, when the billionaire merchandising mogul Johann Rupert gave a speech at The Financial Times’s “luxury summit” in Monaco, he sounded more like a Marxist theoretician than someone who made his fortune selling Cartier diamonds and Montblanc pens. Appearing before a crowd of executives from Fendi and Ferrari, Mr. Rupert argued that it wasn’t right […]
“Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley would cease to exist under ‘living wills’ the banks have drawn up to show how they would handle bankruptcy in a crisis, but JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo would survive in stripped-down form.” *** “Dennis Kelleher of Better Markets, which lobbies for tougher regulation, said: ‘The […]
“The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed rules directing national securities exchanges and associations to establish listing standards requiring companies to adopt policies that require executive officers to pay back incentive-based compensation that they were awarded erroneously.” *** “Dennis Kelleher of Better Markets, a frequent critic of the SEC, gave the SEC rule a […]
“BETTER MARKETS HITS MORGAN STANLEY — Per release from Dennis Kelleher, President and CEO of Better Markets: “Too-big-to-fail Morgan Stanley is apparently also too-big-to-learn. High-risk derivatives gambling in fixed-income, currencies, and commodities compounded by other reckless — if not illegal — conduct caused Morgan Stanley to lose tens of billions of dollars before and during the […]
“The Financial Services Institute is circulating a fact sheet to lawmakers to help explain how the Department of Labor’s fiduciary redraft is “unworkable.” “FSI, noting that it has supported a uniform fiduciary standard, uses each letter in “unworkable” to explain the current redraft’s faults. “The document — which FSI says has been well received on […]
“Just over 10 years ago, researchers at the University of Michigan added three questions to their Health and Retirement Study, a biennial survey of Americans over 50: ■ If $100 earns 2 percent per year, in five years will you have more than $102, less than $102 or $102? ■ If the interest […]
“They say everything comes full circle in due time, and that is certainly the case with the career of Andrew “Buddy” Donohue. In a revolving door redux, Donohue announced on Thursday that he will be resigning his position at Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) to return the SEC where he previously served as head of investment management regulation from […]
“The Securities and Exchange Commission confirmed Thursday that it hired a managing director of Wall Street titan Goldman Sachs Inc. to serve as chief of staff, prompting critics to decry a revolving door that links the corridors of finance and power. “Chairman Mary Jo White has hired Andrew “Buddy” Donohue, the SEC said in a news […]
“The top lawyer of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s asset management unit is leaving the bank to become the top aide to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White, the agency said Thursday. “Andrew “Buddy” Donohue returns from Wall Street to the agency where he previously served as head of investment management regulation from […]
“The Securities and Exchange Commission announced Thursday that Andrew J. “Buddy” Donohue, former director of the agency’s Division of Investment Management, will rejoin the agency as its chief of staff to help craft its fiduciary rule. “Donohue replaces Lona Nallengara, who will leave the agency in June. As chief of staff, Donohue will be a […]
“A U.S. Labor Department plan to reduce conflicts with brokers who offer retirement account advice drew criticism from the chief of Wall Street’s self-funded regulator on Wednesday, who said it would shift enforcement from regulators to investors. “The plan, unveiled in April, aims to ensure that brokers offering retirement account advice do not steer customers […]
As of this week, Citicorp, JPMorgan Chase, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland are felons, having pleaded guilty on Wednesday to criminal charges of conspiring to rig the value of the world’s currencies. According to the Justice Department, the lengthy and lucrative conspiracy enabled the banks to pad their profits without regard to fairness, the […]
“In most professions, it would take only one or two acts of egregious conduct before troubled employees were shown the door. In the case of one stockbroker who has repeatedly had complaints from investors, it took 69 customer disputes filed over the last 13 years before he was barred from the business. “The stockbroker, Jerry A. Cicolani […]
“Wall Street has changed. But perhaps not as much as you would think. “The past several years have been filled with headline-grabbing legal settlements by financial services firms — $11 billion here, $5 billion there. Most of them involved conduct that took place before the 2008 crisis. Virtually every major Wall Street firm has pledged […]
“Major investment banks have raised their standard base salary this spring for recent college graduates to $85,000, the first rise after five years in which the salaries hovered near $70,000. “At the complex in Lower Manhattan formerly known as the World Financial Center, the vacancy rate — which soared to 41 percent after Merrill Lynch […]
“In a move that could brighten retirement prospects for millions of Americans, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that employers have a duty to keep watch over 401(k) plans to guard against high management fees that can erode retirement savings. “A unanimous high court said Monday that employers can be sued if they fail in their […]
After years of criticizing regulators for lax enforcement of securities law, Elizabeth Warren finally has an outspoken ally on the inside pushing for a crackdown on Wall Street offenders. *** Dennis Kelleher, president of Better Markets, a liberal-leaning advocacy group, said Warren has brought more attention to the SEC on cases that Stein has personally […]
Money managers affiliated with banks admitting they violated U.S. securities, banking and other laws could find it hard to get the necessary permission from regulators to continue running the more than $1.3 trillion they oversee. *** That is a good sign, said Stephen Hall, a securities specialist with Better Markets, a non-partisan non-profit organization in […]
“The first question that arises from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s case against Navinder Singh Sarao is: Why did it take them five years to bring it? “A guy living with his parents next to London’s Heathrow Airport enters a lot of big, phony orders to sell U.S. stock market futures; the market promptly collapses on May 6, […]
“Today is the 5th Anniversary of the Flash Crash (above is a Bloomberg screenshot from that day). Over the past few days, we’ve been asked often if the Flash Crash could happen again. The short answer is yes. While regulators have addressed a few issues to reduce the risk of another Flash Crash, another crash […]
“Congressional efforts to press the Federal Reserve for more details about a possible leak have suddenly focused attention on Chairwoman Janet Yellen’s contacts with financial firms. “Ms. Yellen met in 2011 and 2012 with a representative of Medley Global Advisors, the financial consultancy involved in several investigations into its publication of sensitive details of internal Fed […]
“Many on Wall Street have long argued that the banks did not generally break the law when they packaged shoddy mortgages and sold them to investors in the lead-up to the financial crisis of 2008. “But on Monday, in the starkest of terms, a federal judge dealt a strong blow to that version of history. […]
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