“Christmas came early for Wall Street this year. The Federal Reserve on Thursday granted banks an extra year to comply with a key provision of the Volcker Rule, a move that gives financial lobbyists more time to kill the new regulation before it goes into effect. “The Volcker Rule is a key element of the […]
CEO and President Dennis Kelleher was interviewed by Marketplace on the nomination of Antonio Weiss for Undersecretary for Domestic Finance at the Treasury Department. “”There’s too many people who think that just because somebody worked on Wall Street, they literally are a financial master of the universe and can do any finance job,” says Dennis Kelleher of […]
“Section 716 of the Dodd-Frank financial reform act requires that some derivative transactions be “pushed-out” from those part of banks that have deposit insurance (run by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) and other forms of backstop (provided by the Federal Reserve). This is a sensible provision that, if properly implemented, would help keep our financial […]
“As Washington was betraying regular Americans in favor of big banks, Elizabeth Warren took to the Senate floor last week to ask, “Who does Congress work for?” She probably should have included President Obama in her question. “Warren (D., Mass.) was talking about a bank-authored spending bill amendment that constituted one of the most […]
“She has a spot in Democratic leadership, a swelling alliance of liberals in Congress and a rabid following in the Democratic Party. “The question is: What does Elizabeth Warren want to do with all that power? “Groups on the left are trying to draft the Massachusetts liberal into the presidential race, viewing her as the […]
MSNBC The Reid Report: Showdown Mounts Over CRomnibus Bill All eyes are on the Senate after the House passed the $1.1 trillion spending bill. Joy Reid discusses the situation with Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and Dennis Kelleher, president of the pro-regulation group Better Markets. Watch the segment here. PBS Newshour: Is the 2015 spending bill a gift […]
“The sting operation had the trappings of a Wall Street thriller, except that it was run by a team of Harvard and MIT economists. In an audacious experiment, the professors dispatched a squad of undercover operatives across Cambridge and Boston to pose as middle-class investors and ask retail brokers for investment advice. “The results were […]
“Congress is poised to enact the first significant rollback of the sweeping 2010 overhaul of financial regulations by including in a government spending bill a provision that eases bank trading of complex derivatives. “The provision sparked controversy as lawmakers prepared to vote on the $1.1-trillion package that must pass before a Thursday night deadline to […]
“Before she became a senator, Elizabeth Warren came to Capitol Hill and promised “plenty of blood and teeth left on the floor” if she did not get meaningful reforms of Wall Street. This week, she showed what she meant. “The Massachusetts Democrat brought Congress to the brink of yet another government shutdown in her effort […]
“At the heart of the impasse in Congress over a must-pass spending bill is a provision involving the sorts of high-risk investments that ignited the 2008 financial crisis. “The dispute occurred after Republicans inserted into the bill a provision to relax the regulation of investments known as derivatives. Democrats, led by their House leader, Nancy […]
“Congress has agreed to use federal deposit insurance, which was designed to protect the savings accounts of consumers, to cover risky trading by the nation’s biggest banks. “In a small provision in the budget bill, Congress agreed to allow banks to house their trading of swaps and derivatives alongside customer deposits, which are insured by […]
“The government agency that watches over Wall Street came in for repeated rounds of criticism on Friday at a Senate hearing into its regulatory track record. “Many of the senators at the hearing were expected to be critical of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, after recent reports cast doubt on the agency’s ability […]
Dennis Kelleher, chief executive officer of Better Markets, talked about the Federal Reserve’s implementation of a broad internal review of its bank supervisory procedures with Betty Liu on Bloomberg Television’s “In the Loop.”Watch the video here
Camur haero hos loquor meus pneum veniam venio. Aliquam aliquip bene iriure neque os probo. Bene caecus commoveo euismod hendrerit torqueo typicus. Gilvus tego veniam. Blandit consectetuer eros exputo loquor pecus saluto utinam. Minim occuro pala pecus praemitto refoveo veniam. Dignissim fere iriure molior rusticus si. Consequat et huic jus quae vulputate. Decet duis enim […]
“Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s new spot on the Democratic leadership team has supporters cheering, but it remains to be seen how the role will impact her work on banking issues. “The Massachusetts Democrat was already a progressive star when she came to Congress just two years ago, and she’s continued to be a vocal advocate for […]
“The budget crunch at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission helped force the agency’s hand in reaching settlements with banks over the attempted manipulation of foreign currency exchange rates, but experts say it’s far from clear what the regulator gave up to quickly close the cases. “On the surface, the agency scored a big victory […]
“The U.S. Justice Department is conducting its own criminal investigation of foreign-exchange rate setting. And the Federal Reserve confirmed Wednesday it has a probe underway in coordination with Justice and other agencies. Additional penalties are possible. “Criminal charges against individual bank executives couldn’t come soon enough for some consumer advocates and critics of the financial […]
“Tourists wouldn’t notice it: Any manipulation of foreign currency exchange rates might add a fraction of a cent in paying for a meal at a Parisian bistro or booking a tour at the Great Wall of China. “But multiply that by $5 trillion — the amount that trades every day on the massive foreign currency […]
“It didn’t work out with Pierre Omidyar. So, Matt Taibbi is back at Rolling Stone. And his first article is a blockbuster. “In it, Taibbi puts the lie to the commonly expressed belief that the reason there has been no criminal prosecution of a major Wall Street bank or banker is because these cases are […]
“She tried to stay quiet, she really did. But after eight years of keeping a heavy secret, the day came when Alayne Fleischmann couldn’t take it anymore. “It was like watching an old lady get mugged on the street,” she says. “I thought, ‘I can’t sit by any longer.'” “Fleischmann is a tall, thin, quick-witted […]
“Maurice R. Greenberg, the ousted chief executive of American International Group Inc., was practically laughed out of New York for claiming that he and other shareholders were shortchanged by the U.S. government’s $182-billion bailout of AIG. “No one’s laughing now. “In an obscure courthouse here, normally the domain of aggrieved government contractors and Native American […]
“It’s something that almost everyone can agree on: Executives should return compensation earned improperly as a result of accounting shenanigans at their companies. “But four years after Congress told the Securities and Exchange Commission to write a rule making it easier to recover unearned pay, that rule remains unwritten. Compensation clawbacks, therefore, are all too […]
“U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito wants West Virginians to know she’s a defender of community banks. From her seat on the House Financial Services Committee, Capito argues, she has protected small local financial institutions from the overreach of aggressive regulators. “Among her biggest supporters, however, are the biggest banks in the world. “Capito, a Republican, is running for […]
“The rise of the Tea Party insurgency in 2009 and 2010 came with an oft-overlooked benefit for the Republican Party and conservative movement. Not only did the insurgency provide energy to the anti-Obama wave in the 2010 midterms, but it helped blur the lines between the parties in a way that was deeply beneficial to […]
“At the Justice Department, senior officials like to congratulate themselves on the headline-making, big bucks settlements they have imposed upon banks and lenders for their part in causing the 2008 mortgage meltdown that sparked the biggest American financial crisis since the Great Depression.” “But wait a moment. Those settlement figures are not quite what they […]
Remarkably, Goldman Sachs, one of the richest, most powerful, politically connected (aka Government Sachs) too-big-to-fail Wall Street banks, has demonstrated a Teflon-like ability to bounce back from egregious misdeeds, if not outright illegal conduct, and horrible publicity. From Matt Taibbi’s Rolling Stone classic “great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity” to Sen. Carl […]
Editorial Board, NY Times The trial in the suit by Maurice Greenberg against the United States has segued this month from star-witness testimony to routine evidence gathering. As the case proceeds, the farce at its center becomes ever more clear. Mr. Greenberg, a former chief executive of the American International Group, is suing for $40 billion, asserting […]
Last week, I visited an alternate universe. The real world sees a pandemic of bank misconduct, but to the white-collar defense lawyers of Washington, the banks are the victims as they bow beneath the weight of regulators’ remarkably harsh punishments. I was attending the Securities Enforcement Forum, a gathering of top regulators and white-collar defense worthies. […]
WASHINGTON — Abigail P. Johnson, the billionaire president and CEO of Fidelity Investments, epitomizes the quiet, old-money side of the Boston mutual fund world. With her understated, publicity-shy manner, messy Washington politics would not seem to be her thing. But when she arrived at the soaring glass lobby of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Johnson […]
“The Federal Reserve was aware of risky practices at JPMorgan Chase as early as 2008 but failed to follow up for more than three years until those risks had snowballed into the company’s $6.2 billion London Whale scandal, according to a new report from the central bank’s Office of Inspector General. “Financial reform advocates’ response to this […]
“After reporting apparently better than expected earnings this morning, Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS), the most prestigious investment bank in the world, is getting hit hard in early morning trading, down nearly 1.86 percent on the day at the same time the S&P 500 was close to break even. The stock had been down nearly […]
JPMorgan Chase has a problem: It’s taking in money faster than it can lend it out. As long as this trend continues, the biggest bank in America by assets will drift further away from a commercial bank’s core social and economic role of lending. Read the entire article here:
“Wells Fargo, Citigroup and JP Morgan Chase all reported earnings Tuesday morning. The results were more or less what analysts expected, with two banks barely beating expectations, and JP Morgan Chase barely missing. But all three are profitable, with gains in the single-digit billions of dollars for the quarter.” *** “A less profitable Citigroup, but a […]
WASHINGTON—Global regulators are preparing to impose new restrictions on banks, asset managers and others who use swaps to help hedge risks and speculate on market moves. The Federal Reserve and banking authorities around the world are developing new rules that would prevent banks from entering into swaps agreements with certain customers unless their contracts include […]
Better Markets President Dennis Kelleher joined Bloomberg TV’s Betty Liu to discuss the lack of capital held by Wall Street’s biggest banks, and the failure of the banks to pass meaningful ‘stress tests’ in order to protect U.S. taxpayers from a future bailout. Watch the entire interview here:
“Six years ago, the $700 trillion derivatives market helped turn Lehman Brothers’ collapse into a full-blown global financial crisis. “But this weekend, regulators and large banks expect to agree on a change to derivatives that is intended to contain the damage caused by the crash of a large bank, several people briefed on the negotiations said. […]
“The trial pitting a fallen financial titan against an array of former high government luminaries provides a through-the-looking-glass view of the financial credit crisis of 2008 — a view that only makes sense on Wall Street. “In the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C., Maurice R. Greenberg, the deposed head of the rescued […]
Listen to Better Markets CEO Dennis Kelleher on BBC File on 4 discuss the manipulation of the massive foreign exchange market. Full clip available here.
“On a summer afternoon amid the frenzy of the Democratic National Convention in Boston 10 years ago, a group of Washington business lobbyists, political operatives, and a smattering of senators gathered at one of the city’s downtown law firms to hear a plan. “Members of the group worried that, with the end of the Bill […]
“Critics of Wall Street are pushing President Obama to take a tougher stance against the financial sector when picking a replacement for Attorney General Eric Holder. “Lawmakers and outside groups that have accused Holder of going easy on big banks are hoping for a fresh start now that the Justice Department is set to come […]
Eric H. Holder Jr.’s last year as attorney general was marked by multibillion-dollar settlements with big banks for their role in fueling the boom in subprime mortgages. They were a long-awaited response to the financial crisis but came after precious few prosecutions of corporate executives. In looking at Mr. Holder’s legacy in white-collar crime cases, the […]
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren called for congressional hearings into allegations that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has been too deferential to the firms it regulates. A radio program about the regional Fed bank raised “disturbing issues” and “it’s our job to make sure our financial regulators are doing their jobs,” Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat and member of […]
By Michael Lewis Probably most people would agree that the people paid by the U.S. government to regulate Wall Street have had their difficulties. Most people would probably also agree on two reasons those difficulties seem only to be growing: an ever-more complex financial system that regulators must have explained to them by the financiers […]
“Today’s Bank of America settlement with the federal government is a record. The nearly $17 billion deal resolves an investigation into allegations the bank misled purchasers of mortgage-backed securities before the 2008 financial crisis. The settlement is the largest ever reached between the government and a U.S. company. “Until now the biggest bank deal involved […]
“The Federal Reserve is pushing the biggest U.S. banks to shrink so that they’re less of a risk to the financial system. “In testimony at a Senate hearing Tuesday, Fed Gov. Daniel Tarullo highlighted several proposals that regulators are working on. They include imposing additional capital requirements for the eight largest banks — including JPMorgan […]
Federal regulators announced on Wednesday an overhaul of a murky Wall Street market that gained infamy during the financial crisis of 2008. The Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, as well as three other agencies, proposed a rule that would apply to over-the-counter derivatives, the financial instruments that banks and other financial entities […]
“Today brings the utterly unsurprising news that Eric Cantor is headed to Wall Street. “The ousted House majority leader and longtime friend of the financial industry is joining Moelis & Company as a vice-chairman. His paycheck? At least $1.6 million in 2015, plus a million-dollar signing bonus. His duties? To “compete for business and advise […]
Robert Jenkins, a Senior Fellow with Better Markets, gave an extensive interview in 2013 on the challenges international regulators face in strengthening laws governing the global financial system in order to prevent another crisis similar to the one in 2008 that devastated the economies in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Jenkins’ interview appeared in the […]
Bank of America will pay nearly $17 billion for its role in writing and securitizing risky home loans in the run up the housing crisis. For a closer look at the Justice Department deal, and the impact it and earlier bank settlements might have on Wall Street and across the U.S., Hari Sreenivasan talks to […]
“The megabanks are finally feeling the hurt for the depredations of the mortgage era. That’s what the government, and some in the financial press, too, would have us believe. Bank of America is reportedly about to fork over a whopping $17 billion dollar settlement to the Justice Department, topping the previous record of $13 billion […]
For media inquiries, please contact [email protected] or 202-618-6433.
To sign up for our email newsletter, please visit this page.
"* (Required)" indicates required fields
please contact [email protected] or 202-618-6433.
Help us fight for the public interest in our financial markets, protecting Main Street from Wall Street and avoiding another costly financial collapse and economic crisis, by making a donation today.
