Hedge fund

The Issue Europe Won’t Face

(Flickr/Davide Olivia)

 

Europe’s leaders emerged far apart at their summit dinner in Brussels Wednesday night. They could not even agree on relatively easy measures to contain the escalating crisis, such as Eurobonds or a greater role for the European Central Bank (ECB).

But at the core of the crisis is an issue that Europe’s leaders are even more reluctant to take on—the ease with which hedge funds and other speculators can drive a small economy into the ground.

Shadow Banking.

Nomi Prins says reforms pending in Congress would not touch the abuses of hedge funds and private equity.

Despite all the noise about financial reform, the shadow banking system that helped create the financial crisis would remain fundamentally unaltered by the legislation now pending in Congress. Indeed, leveraged entities such as private-equity, venture-capital, and hedge funds get only minor regulatory attention.

The Strange Journey of Gary Gensler.

0420_Schor_lead.jpgAt the end of the Clinton administration, Gary Gensler was one of the Treasury officials who argued against regulating derivatives contracts. Now he's the head of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the primary derivatives regulator.

Financial Reform and Fire Fighting at the Senate Banking Committee.

volckerwhoa.gifYesterday's hearing on the Volcker rule did not go very well. In the preceding 24 hours, there was some confusion over whether Dodd supported the rule. Eventually, his spokesperson Kirstin Brose told me he did.

More on Glass-Steagall 2.0

We have a little more detail on President Obama's new proposal for the financial sector:

1. Limit the Scope -The President and his economic team will work with Congress to ensure that no bank or financial institution that contains a bank will own, invest in or sponsor a hedge fund or a private equity fund, or proprietary trading operations unrelated to serving customers for its own profit. .

Obama to Propose 21st-Century Glass-Steagall.

voabama.jpgReports are out that today President Barack Obama will announce new proposals to limit the size and risk-taking ability of the largest banks immediately following an op