Verdict on Dood-Frank bank reforms

This quote (Liam Halligan, Sunday Telegraph, 25 July 2010) says it beautifully:

"Based on sound-thinking courageous judgement, the Glass-Steagall legislation was only 17 pages long. Packed with wheezes and loop-holes, Dodd-Frank runs to 2,319 pages. Enough said"

Limits to Vulture Funds?

A report about buyers of under-performing mortgages trying to strong-arm borrowers points to the problems that can be created by unfettered trading in loans. What treatment can borrowers - be they individuals, companies or countries - expect in a financial environment where every loan is for sale? Borrowers select lenders not only on price but also on reputation. They want to know who they deal with and do not expect the representative of an aggressive vulture fund to knock on their door if they struggle to meet repayment terms. 

Goldman cannot separate Derivative Profits

from its profits in cash securities. According to Bloomberg Goldman Sachs has refused to disclose how much it makes trading derivatives to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. Goldman CFO David Viniar stated that the firm 'has no way of separating out its derivatives data from trading in cash securities'.
We can only assume that some information got lost on the way from the FCIC to the reporter as we can not imagine that at a time when computing power is so abundant it would not be possible to separate the profitability by product - down to the P&L of each individual transaction.

Re-Recruit your team every day

In this interview the CEO of The Limited makes the interesting point that 'her job is to re-recruit her associates every day and give them a reason to choose to work for us and for her as opposed to anybody else'. Definitely a good point, - especially in view of the fact that so many relationships between boss and employee are adversarial rather than cooperative.

Lagarde: Stress tests will show EU banks healthy

Strange that she seems to know what the tests that are currently performed will look like.