Archive for the ‘Markets and Regulation’ Category

Fighting Our Way Out of the Banking Crisis: Paulson Takes the Ball.

Wednesday, July 16th, 2008

The Credit Crisis seems to be approaching its nadir, although it is clear that we will lose several more banks, perhaps many of the smaller “me too” banks, before this experience is over. We seem to be moving into a phase that happens in every crisis from war to basketball. ...

The Rating Agencies: Buried in the Sand to the Neck as The Tide Creeps In.

Wednesday, June 25th, 2008

God, but I’m good. Know how to tell? Just read the title of the May 24th post. OK, I’ll cite it myself – “The Rating Agencies: Are They Doomed?” Now we learn that the SEC is giving serious thought to cutting off the agencies’ government-mandated monopoly status. (WSJ, June 24, ...

The Eurodollar Flap. The Fragility of London’s Reputation – A Financial System That Understands and Respects Market Integrity

Monday, April 21st, 2008

We learned this week that the board of London bank branch officers that submit LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate) rates, the version of Eurodollar rates used in most contracts involving bank wholesale deposit rates, to Reuters and ultimately to the rest of the world, have been shading the rate low. ...

The Shape of Regulators to Come.

Sunday, April 6th, 2008

Secretary of the Treasury Hank Paulson, speaking on March 26th, began to reveal the details of coming regulatory reform. Two factors stand out. First, the regulatory apparatus will be made simpler, probably involving the Federal Reserve swallowing The Comptroller of the Currency and The FDIC and perhaps assuming some of ...