Quelle Surprise! Feds Dust off Old Rogue Traders CDO Case to Burnish “Tough on Mortgage Crime” Credentials
The powers that be are in the process of seeing how they can burnish their "tough on bank crime" credentials while not ruffling anyone really important. And the case featured in the Wall Street Journal, "U.S. Plans Charges on Bond Fraud," illustrates the sort of enforcement theater we are likely to see over the...
So Why Hasn’t SEC Enforcement Chief Robert Khuzami Resigned? SEC Only Now Investigating CDOs Created on His Watch at Deutsche Bank
I'd heard from German speaking readers about the Der Spiegel report of an SEC investigation in its German edition over the weekend and they've now released it in their English language version.
Der Spiegel is careful about its sourcing, so readers should take this account seriously.
When a derivatives counterparty leaves the euro…
Law firm Clifford Chance must be tired of fielding questions about what would happen to derivatives contracts should one’s eurozone counterparty exit the single-currency....
Fat Cats and Starving Dogs; Happy Foxes and Sad Sacks
This weekend, I saw Margin Call on DVD. Jeremy Irons plays a CEO of a small Goldman Sachs like company. A young analyst at the firm discovers that their highly-leveraged, massive mortgage bets are based on a VAR formula that’s flawed. It failed to consider volatility ranges beyond historical distributions. With the market swinging, his...
More Evidence that JP Morgan Stuck the Knife in MF Global
The death of MF Global and JP Morgan's role in its demise is starting to look like a beauty contest between Cinderalla's ugly sisters. As much as most market savvy observers are convinced that there is no explanation for how MF Global made $1.2 billion in customer funds went poof that could exculpate the firm,...
#Occupy the SEC Submits Letter on Volcker Rule to House Financial Services Committee Hearing (#OWS)
For those who are fond of depicting Occupy Wall Street as a bunch of hippies with no point of view, counterevidence comes in the letter submitted by the Occupy the SEC subcommittee for a joint subcommittee hearing tomorrow, January 18, of the House Financial Services Committee on the Volcker Rule. The title of the hearing...
Naked Oil
This is a guest post by Chris Cook, former compliance and market supervision director of the International Petroleum Exchange.
All is not as it appears in the global oil markets, which have become entirely dysfunctional and no longer fit for its purpo...
Ian Fraser: The Economist Loses the Plot With This Shallow, Pro-City Propaganda
By Ian Fraser, a financial journalist who blogs at his web site and at qfinance. His Twitter is @ian_fraser.
I was surprised and disappointed when I opened my copy of The Economist on Friday morning.
The magazine is running a...
I was surprised and disappointed when I opened my copy of The Economist on Friday morning.
The magazine is running a...Re-hypothecation: How it’s related to MF Global
Marketplace Whiteboard: If ever there was a word that you’d expect to find in a Harry Potter novel, it’s re-hypothecation. This a classic example of financial people inventing impenetrable terminology to make their business look like a black art. “Oooh, re-hypothecation, it must be magic!” Well it isn’t. The term “re-hypothecation” came up a lot...
MBIA vs BAC: On why the loss causation ruling is important
“Bank of America Corp. may face billions of dollars more in liability for faulty mortgages if a judge agrees with insurer MBIA Inc. that the lender must buy back loans even if the errors didn’t cause a borrower’s default…If New York Supreme Court Justice Eileen Bransten and judges in similar cases across the country rule...
MBIA vs BAC: On why the loss causation ruling is important
“Bank of America Corp. may face billions of dollars more in liability for faulty mortgages if a judge agrees with insurer MBIA Inc. that the lender must buy back loans even if the errors didn’t cause a borrower’s default…If New York Supreme Court Justice Eileen Bransten and judges in similar cases across the country rule...
MBIA vs BAC: On why the loss causation ruling is important
“Bank of America Corp. may face billions of dollars more in liability for faulty mortgages if a judge agrees with insurer MBIA Inc. that the lender must buy back loans even if the errors didn’t cause a borrower’s default…If New York Supreme Court Justice Eileen Bransten and judges in similar cases across the country rule...
