The appeals court ruling is likely to perpetuate the perverse situation in which banks view SEC legal settlements as a cost of doing business rather than a deterrent for fraud.
Some banks must know where the missing customer funds are. Otherwise why would they be confident enough to bid as much as 90% of face value for customer claims?
For young businesses to succeed, they first need business management tools, networks and coaching. Only after they have these things are they ready to take out loans.
Unless there is a hidden Washington agenda to eliminate community banks as trouble-prone or hard to regulate, it is time to rethink the limitations and criteria required for new applicants.
Congress should repeal Sarbanes-Oxley to increase the flow of equity capital to micro- and small-cap public companies. Lawmakers also must increase the allotment for the SBA 7a program and guarantee it exists for the next three years.
The Fed has not clearly articulated a rationale for the complicated stress test it selected. It appears that with their selection, the scenario is closer to Armageddon than the Great Recession.
The judgment of politicians can be clouded by fixes that sound good, but miss the target. The governments' desire to punish financial services companies is impeding the economic recovery.
Government intervention in the interchange system might boost profits for giant retailers, but it harms the interests of American small businesses and many minority entrepreneurs.
Just as we manage risk within companies on an enterprise-wide level, we should be building a coherent regulatory framework in which risk is assessed across industries and markets.
