Banking Crisis

Too Complex To Regulate: JPMorgan's Losses Highlight Need For Simplicity

Peter S. Goodman | Posted 05.28.2012

Peter S. Goodman

You can parse the stories about how the bank's risk-management people loaded up on risk, or digest the accounts of how JPMorgan's financial wizards engineered mind-bendingly complex means of limiting their vulnerability to troubles in Europe. But the simplest answer is the most pertinent: It's extraordinarily complicated.

Banking Industry Reaps Biggest Earnings Since Before Crisis

Reuters | Posted 05.25.2012

WASHINGTON, May 24 (Reuters) - The U.S. banking industry for the first quarter reported its highest quarterly earnings since the first half of 2007,...

JPMorgan Losses Do Not Make the Case for Regulation

Mark A. Calabria | Posted 05.15.2012

Mark A. Calabria

President Obama and others have used the recent $2 billion loss by JPMorgan Chase as a call for more regulation. What the president and his allies miss is that recent events at JPMorgan illustrate how the system should -- and does -- work.

Wall Street Bankers Who Broke the Law Belong in Jail

Eric Griego | Posted 05.15.2012

Eric Griego

In Washington, I will fight to hold Wall Street accountable.

Fixing Gross Inequality Is Not Socialism

Curtis Roosevelt | Posted 05.09.2012

Curtis Roosevelt

Democrats are again in an excellent position to take a risk like FDR took with the New Deal. They might give themselves some identity other than that of modest centrists, constantly worried about offending one constituency or another.

Define "Extraordinary"

George Goehl | Posted 05.07.2012

George Goehl

We believe protest at the Bank of America meeting this year is not just normal -- it's the only response that makes sense. We don't want to protest Bank of America's shareholder meeting, but we have to, to protect our country from more unchecked corporate greed and abuse.

The Financial Horror Story Still Needs Telling

Mark Gongloff | Posted 04.25.2012

Mark Gongloff

Watch Money, Power and Wall Street: Part One on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE. Frontline's new documentary about the financial crisis probably do...

Ex-Iceland Prime Minister Faces No Punishment For Role In Financial Crisis

AP | ANNA ANDERSEN | Posted 04.23.2012

REYKJAVIK, Iceland — The leader of Iceland's government when the nation's banking system collapsed was convicted Monday of one criminal charge, ...

You've Come a Long Way, Ben

Robert Kuttner | Posted 04.16.2012

Robert Kuttner

Does Ben Bernanke deserve the accolade bestowed in the April Atlantic magazine cover profile, "The Hero?" Not entirely. But if you look at Bernanke over the past ten years, what you see more than anything else is a learning curve on matters of regulation.

Banks Were Too Big To Fail 200 Years Ago, Too

The Huffington Post | Mark Gongloff | Posted 04.11.2012

If you think American banks are too big to fail now, you should have seen them 200 years ago. Banks dominated the American corporate landscape in 1...

Getting Clear About Voting Independent

Mitchell J. Rabin | Posted 04.03.2012

Mitchell J. Rabin

What matters is having a leader, not a politician, assume political office. And so I suggest that people look to break out of the two-party trance and take on a pro-active role in taking your government back to serve You, your family, your friends, your community.

Backpage Not Complying With Requests to Help Stop Sex Trafficking

Conchita Sarnoff | Posted 04.03.2012

Conchita Sarnoff

Nicholas Kristof reported in Sunday's New York Times Magazine that Goldman Sachs owns a 16% stake of Village Voice Media.

Buddhist Economic Wisdom For Falling Back In Love With Mother Earth

John Stanley | Posted 05.30.2012

John Stanley

Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh believes that putting an economic value on nature is not enough. Fundamental change can happen only if we fall back in love with our planet.

Too Smart To Fail

Thomas Frank | Posted 05.26.2012

Thomas Frank

In the twelve hapless years of the present millennium, we have looked on as three great bubbles of consensus vanity have inflated and burst, each with consequences more dire than the last. But what rankles now is our failure to come to terms with how we were played.

Spring Cleaning: U.S. Treasury Announces Dutch Auction; FDIC Closes Two More Ailing Banks

Dennis Santiago | Posted 05.26.2012

Dennis Santiago

The FDIC closed two banks last Friday. Covenant Bank & Trust in Rock Spring, Georgia and Premier Bank in Wilmette, Illinois succumbed to long-time stresses.

It May Be Just Dirt to Some, but to Small Business Owners, It's the Essence of Our Lives

David Wilson | Posted 05.22.2012

David Wilson

Small business made this country great and we can do it again. We can, better than anyone, insure people will stay in their homes by hiring back our talented workforce that has and will continue to be our nation's greatest asset.

Banks Could Learn a Thing or Two

James Perry | Posted 05.20.2012

James Perry

The principled belief that a stronger local, state and national community results in a stronger more consistent bottom line for lending institutions is not just feel good chatter. In fact, their existence relies upon this business principle.

The Fed's No Stress Stress Test

Laurence J. Kotlikoff | Posted 05.14.2012

Laurence J. Kotlikoff

Today's Wall Street Journal carried a cover story, "Stress Tests Buoy U.S. Banks." In fact, the stress tests showed exactly the opposite. Of the 19 ...

Big Bank Settlement Offers Cities Opportunity to Address Foreclosure Devastation - If They Take It

Dan Kildee | Posted 04.17.2012

Dan Kildee

The $26 billion settlement between state attorneys general, the federal government and five of the nation's largest banks offers a cautionary tale and some real opportunities for communities grappling with the foreclosure crisis.

Financial Regulators Don't Reflect America's Diversity

Preeti Vissa | Posted 04.16.2012

Preeti Vissa

Could the crisis have been averted if our financial regulators were more plugged into the communities that were hit first and hardest?

'Not So': Volcker Responds To Critics Who Say His Rule Will Wreak Havoc On Banks

The Huffington Post | Mark Gongloff | Posted 02.13.2012

Paul Volcker has two words for the people who say the new banking-sector rule that bears his name is going to wreak havoc on the financial system: "No...

The Mortgage Settlement's Huge Missing Piece: Do Detailed Enforcement Provisions Exist?

Bruce Judson | Posted 04.14.2012

Bruce Judson

Banks agreed to change their behavior as part of the robo-mortgage settlement announced last week. The announcement, however, left open critical quest...

The Real Estate Supertanker Is Turning

Rob Taub | Posted 04.14.2012

Rob Taub

For the last two years I've described the housing market as glacial, however, the ice is beginning a slow but steady thaw for the following reasons.

Is the Robo-Mortgage Scandal the Back-End of Tax Evasion and Fraud?

Bruce Judson | Posted 04.07.2012

Bruce Judson

The terms for the settlement of the robo-mortgage scandal and the states participating in the settlement are expected to be resolved soon. Unfortunat...

Four More Bank Closures Mark the Week of January 27, 2012

Dennis Santiago | Posted 03.28.2012

Dennis Santiago

The general pattern of the FDIC closing banks with weak operating characteristics and deepening asset quality troubles continues. The FDIC shuttered four additional banks today bringing the 2012 count to seven.