Neither Mitt Romney and the Republicans nor President Obama and many Democrats favor breaking up the big banks, the best way to prevent another taxpayer bailout after a financial crisis.

In last Wednesday's presidential debate, Governor Romney said the Dodd-Frank Act is "the biggest kiss that's been given to New...

This Thursday, Joe Biden (my former boss and the long-time Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee) and then Barack Obama will present their vision for a second term. They'll do it from Charlotte, North Carolina, where Bank of America has its headquarters. They'll both likely say that they believe in...

In August 2009, then Senator Ted Kaufman wrote SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro to urge her to study quickly how dramatic changes in our stock markets had in only a few years time led to an explosive growth in computerized trading. THE PAYOFF: Why Wall Street Always Wins, written...

For those who want the Securities and Exchange Commission to fulfill its mission of protecting investors, the New Year brings more bleak reality. It's bad enough that the Justice Department never indicted a single Wall Street executive for the fraud associated with the financial crisis, leaving it...

Long silent and now contradictory, President Obama needs to deliver a clarifying speech about our financial markets and the rule of law. Speaking in Kansas on December 6, he said, "Too often, we've seen Wall Street firms violating major anti-fraud laws because the penalties are too weak and there's...

This post is adapted from a speech delivered Nov. 2, 2010, to more than 300 financial regulators and Wall Street executives during a panel discussion entitled "Financial Crisis and Financial Crimes" at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

I'm going to address briefly four questions, all of...