I just love this info/chart porn:
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Proposed Changes in Federal Regulation of the Financial Industry
click for ginormous graphic
via NYT
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Source:
Some Lawmakers Question Expanded Reach for the Fed
STEPHEN LABATON
NYT, June 17, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/18/business/18regulate.html
In any great organization it is far, far safer to be wrong with the majority than to be right alone. —John Kenneth Galbraith
Asian currencies continue to sell off vs the $ on the heels of the news yesterday that South Korea said they will look into hot money inflows stemming from the $ carry trade and the Bank of Indonesia said they are looking into the foreign buying of bills. This follows the news a few weeks ago that Taiwan was limiting foreign deposit holdings and Brazil was taxing foreign inflow transactions. As I mentioned yesterday, we may have reached a short term pain threshold in terms of $ weakness and foreign countries are fighting back as they certainly won't wait for...
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June 22nd, 2009 at 1:14 pm
Isn’t The Big Picture going to blog about the U.S. Open? Financial TV seems preoccupied with coverage. Although now that Tiger has finished we can go back to the economy….
[I'm kidding, BR. Maybe one needs to add this to the list of fixes for Fin. TV?]
June 22nd, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Yep, no gray area there between #’s 4 & 5
June 22nd, 2009 at 1:48 pm
More of the same the obamageddon cries wolf and then appoints the wolves to guard the henhouse.
June 22nd, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Barring the WTF inducing point #1, this chart actually brings into perspective what I DO like about the Obama initiative. If this were phase I of a multi year effort to bring the economy back in line, then it is a really good Phase I. I’m always wary of people who claim to know all the answers without piloting a small portion of their agenda first.
June 22nd, 2009 at 2:35 pm
following on bonghiteric’s observation- the Fed and FDIC are certain to get into jurisdictional skirmishes-for instance-
the Fed says a particular TBTF bank is sufficiently capitalized or should get taxpayer assistance to stay afloat and the FDIC says they need to be seized to protect the depositors- who wins that battle???
June 22nd, 2009 at 2:43 pm
They should just wrap this bullshit into the Department of Homeland Security and waterboard everyone involved.
June 22nd, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Dr. Hussman has a good take on this restructuring in his latest weekly commentary:
http://www.hussmanfunds.com/wmc/wmc090622.htm
I love this little nugget: “This authority should emphatically not be under the discretion of officials at the Treasury or the Fed, who hop into bed with bank executives more eagerly than a five-dollar gigolo”
LOL
June 22nd, 2009 at 2:59 pm
maybe if prop 1 is that all of the members have to agree on a course of action if there is a conflict between 2 of the agencies.
it just doesn’t fix the problem of an agency that decides to not regulate at all.
though i can see another consolidation. eliminate the sec and merge it with the commodities futures trading commision
and add a new job to that new agency the consumer one, managing the consumers interaction with brokers since nobody really does that now? just a thought
June 22nd, 2009 at 3:04 pm
I like Marcus’s idea- simple and effective
June 22nd, 2009 at 3:10 pm
I’d like to see the hiring/post-employment guidelines. The 30+ year menage a trois of banking, legal, and governmental personnel will neuter the most stringent regulatory framework.
Furthermore, I would also propose that a mandatory number of enforcement actions be legislated for each regulatory body. And if the agency doesn’t meet its quota of enforcement actions they get twice as much money in their subsequent year’s budget that must be allocated to enforcement actions. Just my way of countering the logic of bureaucratic inertia.
June 22nd, 2009 at 4:03 pm
I find it hard to believe Congressmen would object to giving authority to the Fed that’s outlined in this middle-of-the-road proposal. Why, who in the heck is going to receive the buckets of lobbyists money at the Fed?
June 22nd, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Looks like a sweep “left”. Fumble!!
June 22nd, 2009 at 7:56 pm
@Pat G…
Looks like the “holy roller” play (Stabler – Casper)…Touchdown!
June 22nd, 2009 at 8:57 pm
Marcus Aurelius: perfect
June 22nd, 2009 at 9:48 pm
It seems the only two agencies that have really done their jobs are the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the FDIC. The majority of the subprime/securitization/derivative issues occurred outside the bank charter and thus were under the purview of the Fed. As such, I see five steps that are prudent as we reform our regulatory system. First, eliminate the OTC and the thrift charter. Second, give the OCC supervisory power over banks and their holding companies. Third, do not split the consumer compliance out of the regulatory agencies. An additional agency will not only be less efficient, but also less effective. Fourth, place the Fed in charge of regulating insurance and other large systematically important institutions. Finally, Combine the CFTC and SEC.
The Fed’s core competency is monetary policy not bank supervision. Let OCC, continue with prudential bank supervision and let the Fed do what they do best – monetary policy.
On a somewhat related note, I can’t believe anyone still listens to Barney Frank. He has no class and just wants to push his personal agenda. Why does anyone on the hill listen to that guy?
June 22nd, 2009 at 11:47 pm
Sorry, a bit off topic, but had to post this re: the PPT……
http://www.marketskeptics.com/2009/06/still-researching-corruption-at.html
June 23rd, 2009 at 12:16 am
Who needs comptrollers anyway….the bane of “creative capitalism”!!
That chart looks like the bottom part of my Scot-Irish-KY Hillbilly-Detroit Trailertrash family tree.
Speaking of …..
So now BIG TOBACCO is a drug company.
LOL
June 23rd, 2009 at 12:27 am
Didn’t the OCC publish the notational amount of who held what in the derivatives market? Are they being eliminated because they shed some light on the true value of the financial institutions?
June 23rd, 2009 at 1:22 am
Weird. The graphic looks like something prepared by the Detroit Lions offensive coordinator. Like changing the blocking assignments will turn the franchise around. Why doesn’t anyone want to talk about the failure of the individuals that were in place under the existing system.
As far as I can tell, Geithner spent 5 years at the New York Fed spinning in the big chair, and now he’s a reformer? Pass the Maalox…..