Congress and regulators are listening. Silence among big bank representatives can be viewed as a green light to pass legislation that limits the size of their financial institutions.
While JPMorgan's witnesses were testifying with practiced humility, lobbyists were working to gut the reforms of derivatives trading enacted as part of the Dodd-Frank Act.
Our best chance to counter the government policies that caused the crisis (and continue to endanger the banking system) is, paradoxically, another distasteful state intrusion.
For many small and midsize banks, AML is all about compliance and getting through an examination without too many bruises. The means overshadow the ends.
If he supported size regulations on big banks, JPMorgan's CEO would help revamp his increasingly tarnished image and help put the entire financial industry on the path to redemption.
Abolish the public/private hybrid model of Fannie and Freddie, sell or liquidate their businesses, and privatize the mortgage market. This can be done in an orderly way in a few easy steps.
Breaking up big banks as way to score our pound of flesh post-financial crisis could result in increased unemployment, higher credit costs for all and a transfer of risk from banks to lightly regulated shadow financial institutions.
Rewriting the longstanding structures of corporate law and the roles and responsibilities of bank boards could create chaos in the global corporate and financial structures.
There's an emerging bipartisan consensus on the way forward for the secondary mortgage market. But as Congress has punted, the FHFA is taking significant steps without hearings or public discussion.
