Bankruptcy Blogs

CFPB Should Leave Enforcement Lawyers Out of Bank Exams

12/12/12

While some may suggest the practice is warranted so agency attorneys can address deficiencies hurting consumers, ultimately everyone loses when opportunities for frank discussion are lost.

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A Prosecution Deferred; MIT's Future New-Keynesian Central Bankers Club

12/12/12

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

HSBC Settlement Redux: Wednesday was the tail end of the HSBC money laundering news cycle, with major papers scrutinizing the bank's $1.9 billion deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. According to the 21 law enforcement officials, the bank's misconduct was egregious, sustained, and possibly willful. (Either that or nobody noticed when people started regularly showing up at Mexican HSBC branches with boxes of cash that fit precisely through the holes in the...

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Assassination and Bankruptcy

12/11/12

How's that for a catchy title?

I was inspired by an interesting post over at Lawfare, where the author notes that the term "assassination" has a specialized meaning in legal circles – namely, it involves an unlawful killing – whereas in the popular imagination the term basically refers to any sort of covert killing, particularly those with national security implications.

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For Industry's Sake, Banks and Regulators Better Start Communicating

12/11/12

Regulators need to create an environment where firms are not afraid to speak out. Banks need to come up with clearer explanations of their business models to prevent the creation of unnecessary rules.

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Boardroom Diversity Is Good Corporate Governance

12/11/12

Ensuring that corporate boards include a diverse set of skills, backgrounds and personalities helps against groupthink's dislocation of corporate and shareholder interests.

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The Daily Docket: LifeCare Enters Bankruptcy

12/11/12

LifeCare Holdings Inc. and affiliates, a hospital chain backed by the Carlyle Group, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday. Read the Daily Bankruptcy Review article here.

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Laundry Bill Totals $2.6 Billion for HSBC and Standard Chartered

12/11/12

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Laundry Bills: The whispers were out there last week, now it's official: HSBC has admitted it ignored signs of money laundering for years and agreed to pay a record $1.9 billion in a settlement with U.S. authorities. (Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times.) Fellow British bank Standard Chartered agreed to a $327 million settlement for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran, Libya and other nations (Journal, New York Times), bringing its...

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The Cult of 'Innovation' Can Be Hazardous to Your Bank

12/11/12

Innovations can fail catastrophically, as was the case for the mortgage and securitization innovations that precipitated the crisis. Valuable innovation profitably and honestly delivers greater perceived value to customers, without incurring disproportionate cost and risk.

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