Wall Street misconduct, the SEC, crypto, private equity, hedge funds, sports betting.
103 articles · page 4 of 6
Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump has been called many things based on his public and private behavior against fellow Republicans, Syrian refugees, John McCain, the disabled and some women, but we have to thank him for an almost forgotten episode in financial history which has inadvertently shed some light on how the 2000 tech crash…
In a democracy with so many forms of open communication and social media, it would not seem possible that propaganda would have a major role in shaping public opinion and government policy today. Yet despite all of the supposed sophistication among a population inundated with all forms of information and constant media access, modern propaganda…
When politicians are in office, they see the huge money luring them to vote in a certain direction. When they leave office, they are free to more openly pursue that huge money. All they need to do is shed the veneer of respectability. When they openly take the money and become political influence peddlers, they…
In the latest part of this long saga about big rigging of the London Interbank Offering Rate (LIBOR) that began in the early-1990s, eight of the world’s largest banks have agreed to pay a little over $2 billion to settle charges that their traders rigged the world’s largest benchmark for their own benefit. The banks…
At first glance, mentioning the financial service industry and psychopaths in the same sentence seems insulting, illogical and controversial, especially to financial professionals and investors who, for different reasons, must hold the financial industry in high esteem. Linking these two terms is especially sensitive since the common view is that psychopaths are generally considered criminally insane. And…
At first glance, the secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which was drafted by corporate lawyers and lobbyists, and the arrogance of the too-big-to-fail (TBTF) banks may seem like unrelated events. But what if this arrogance hinted at a building confidence that average people worldwide would now be more accountable to corporations than to their own sovereign…
If the media and financial services industry ever needed more evidence about why investor confidence in the financial system is so low, they do not have to look far. The U.S. Justice department today said that six banks will be forced to plead guilty to price fixing and anti-trust violations in the foreign currency markets.
Objectivity in the media has always been a very debatable and contested issue even among the most experienced professional journalists and academics, but so far those discussions have centered on everyday beat and political reporting, and not financial journalism. That’s a mistake because financial journalism today, especially as it is practiced on TV by the…
Too many financial professionals ignore the daily news and instead focus on their businesses. This is acceptable, except when the news directly impacts their industry and customers. When financial and investment news erodes customer confidence, it should be a major concern for anyone in the industry. Yet when this happens in the investment business,…
Hedge funds, private equity and venture capital firms have failed both in performance and in their claims of creating jobs. As a result, the huge lobbying effort to gain preferential tax treatment through something called “carried interest,” should be revoked. Carried interest let these hybrid financials firms pay ordinary income tax rates on their compensation…
The American justice system is clearly in trouble and here is a stark example of the gap between rich and poor, white and black, European vs. U.S. street culture and how this strange mix all came to be co-exist. This situation is an object lesson about the Two Americas which simultaneously exist in parallel universes.
It is common knowledge that the 2008 recession was created by a meltdown which affected the housing market worldwide and resulted in the greatest recession and wealth destruction event since the Great Depression of 1929. But what is less known is how exotic financial instruments used by the world’s hedge funds helped create and accelerate…
Today marked a black day for Barclays Plc. as it was cited twice by British financial regulators for manipulating the price of gold on June 28, 2012 and a day after the bank was fined a record £290 million for manipulating the London inter-bank offered rate (LIBOR). Barclays, which dates back to 1896 when it was founded…
As the hot discussion about high frequency trading (HFT) enters the public spotlight thanks to the recent 60 Minutes story and the book by Michael Lewis, it’s important to note that trading in front of individual investors and other conflicts-of-interest have existed in various forms since the start of trading in the U.S. Front-running of…
Every day in the U.S., 10,000 people turn 65 and become eligible for Medicare. Due to the simple passage of time, these people now become eligible for federally-subsidized hospital and physician services delivered by any licensed medical professional or hospital in the U.S. By receiving Medicare Parts A (hospital) and B (medical), seniors, as well…
Two news items this week indicate that the financial services industry may be inherently unethical, yet the SEC has chosen to do little about it. That’s the conclusion anyone who has followed the twisted, convoluted and agonizingly slow pace of the adoption of a fiduciary standard by the financial services industry. Due to inherent conflicts…
Anyone who has ever spent time on an exchange’s trading floor goes through a progression of observations. First, any observer is awed at the commotion. There are the coats of different colors, the trader’s frenzy, the enormity of the closed space, the roar, clutter of papers and the mix of all types, sizes and races…
“The Arabic-language network Al-Jazeera released a full transcript Monday of the most recent videotape from Osama bin Laden in which the head of al Qaeda said his group’s goal is to force America into bankruptcy. “Al-Jazeera aired portions of the videotape Friday but released the full transcript of the entire tape on its Web site…
Just as we continue to hear about the benefits of free markets for free men, government investigators and economists on both sides of the Atlantic are expanding their probes into price fixings for gasoline, while economists are trying to develop a methodology to determine how much the LIBOR price fixing scandal has costs consumers and…
Anyone who has ever spent time on an exchange’s trading floor goes through a progression of observations. First, is the awe at the commotion. There are the coats of different colors, the trader’s frenzy, the enormity of the closed space, the roar, the clutter of papers and the mix of all types, sizes and colors…
