Why did PricewaterhouseCoopers allow MF Global financial statements to be issued with a clean audit opinion? Why wasn't there a "going concern" warning?
When I first read about "Margin Call," a movie purporting to capture the drama of a Wall Street investment firm going belly-up, my response was of the "why bother" variety. Then I actually saw it.
The Office of Financial Research and the Department of Homeland Security bear uncanny similarities of purpose and origin, rising out of the ashes of two national catastrophes.
Despite recent sweet talk about building better relationships and regaining trust, few banks are taking meaningful steps to do either. This may require some time in therapy.
More contagion will surely come to infect the global financial system if nothing is done to address the systemic problems for the long run. This will take time and funding.
Nonbank start-ups are shaking things up by doing what banks don't, but partnerships with financial institutions are often necessary to deliver the broad range of new services to a national customer base.
Expect more debt exchanges and cash tender offers in the coming months. The strategy is rational and the alternatives for generating equity are limited at best.
Floor rates are in place at community and regional banks and it will be difficult, if not impossible, for Fed policy to push longer-term loan rates below those floors.
The FDIC has authorized suits in connection with more than 30 failed banks against approximately 300 individuals to recoup damages of more than $7 billion.
