Financial Institutions

Does the White House Stand for Consumer Protection or for Predatory Lending?

03/21/16

Does the Obama White House truly stand for consumer financial protection, or will it support Wall Street when it thinks no one is looking?  That's the question that the Supreme Court served up today.  The Supreme Court is considering whether to hear an appeal in a critical consumer protection case called Midland Funding v. Madden. This is one of the most important consumer financial protection case the Supreme Court has considered in years.

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I Can't Give Everything Away

02/25/16

Some thoughts on the new rules for broker-dealer OLA cases, over at Dealb%k.

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No Way to Run a Railroad: Scholars' Letter on the Trust Indenture Act Amendment

12/08/15

A large number of bankruptcy and corporate finance scholars, including several Slipsters, signed on to a letter to Congressional leadership regarding the proposed omnibus appropriations bill rider to amend the Trust Indenture Act.

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Private Equity's Private Bill to Amend the Trust Indenture Act

12/07/15

One of the many creatures attempting to crawl its way onto the back of the omnibus appropriations bill is an amendment to the Trust Indenture Act.  The Trust Indenture Act is the 1939 securities law that is the major protection for bondholders. Among other things, the Trust Indenture Act prohibits any action to "impair or affect" the right of bondholders to payment or to institute suit for nonpayment absent the individual bondholder's consent.

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HARA$$ the CFPB: Omnibus Edition

12/04/15

It's appropriations season and efforts to harass the CFPB seem to be going into overdrive. The latest scheme:  hit the CFPB with financial reporting requirements unparalleled for any government agency.  This little nugget of petty harassment is found in section 504 of the House Financial Services Appropriations bill being considered for inclusion in the final budget package. 

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How Backpage Is Different from Choke Point

12/03/15

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently slammed Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart for his actions trying to get Mastercard and Visa to stop processing payments for Backpage, an advertising website whose ads include various adult services (some legal, some not).

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Glass-Steagall Is Campaign Finance Reform

11/29/15

The financial wonkosphere just doesn't get it about Glass-Steagall.  Pieces like this one by Matt O'Brien concentrate on the questions of whether Glass-Steagall would have prevented the last crisis or whether it is better than other approaches to reducing systemic risk.  That misses the point entirely about why a return to Glass-Steagall is so important.

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The Ibanez Property Ring

11/09/15

There’s an interesting new article out on the celebrated Massachusetts U.S. Bank v. Ibanez case that suggests that the defendant, Antonio Ibanez, was at the center of a property fraud ring. It's not clear to me that there was anything illegal about Ibanez's activities, but even if there were, I don't think it much matters.  

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