The Great Debate- Are the big banks winning?
The Dodd-Frank Act to re-regulate the big banks was intentionally tough. It was passed in the wake of the 2008-2009 financial crash to end cowboy banking; require far more capital and much less leverage, and rein in the trading-desk geniuses who pumped up serial bubbles. Since Congress is a poor forum for crafting such a complex statute, the details were left to the expert regulatory agencies.
The big banks pay lip-service to the goals of Dodd-Frank — but they’re mounting bitter, rearguard actions in federal courts to block meaningful constraints and regulations on procedural and other grounds. This is an ominous turn of events, since these banks have the legal firepower to overwhelm budget-constrained U.S. regulatory agencies.
While Dodd-Frank is aimed at preventing another cycle of bubble-and-bust, shrinking the financial sector is crucial for other reasons. One is a mass of evidence demonstrating that hyper-financialized economies have lower growth. Another is the appalling ethical record of large financial companies. The chance of making huge paydays by risking other people’s money, it seems, can sometimes derange moral compasses.
Rest here…
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I am a victim of this Bank of America foreclosure mess. They put you on a plan making homes affordable. After the huge amounts of paperwork you have to send them you are then put on a trial period of 3 months. I was told after I made the third payment I was all set and my mortgage was fine. Then you are transferred to another case manager and another and yet another so you never know who your case manage is and they only go by their notes. I was told my mortgage was set and now I received a letter stating that I was denied because of a missing document and they sent my last two mortgage payments back and I am now in foreclosure proceedings again. This has to stop. They are playing with peoples lives putting them in stressful situations and putting them through anxiety which is totally unnecessary. My husband recently and suddenly passed away from a massive coronary and I am sure that although not the main cause this whole situation did not help it. I am at my whitts end with this. I was scammed by a lawyer during this as I was unaware you did not pay a lawyer to help you. He advised me wrong so this is why I am in this mess. So where do people go for help with this. Something needs to be done about them playing with peoples lives. Hiring another lawyer is out of the question as I do not have the financial means to pay for one. So who is going to help me. I need to know what solutions we have to fight this!!
The Banksters will find (and are finding) ways to go right around DF. Key implementation of important regulation is overseen by political opportunists like Timmy ‘Foam’ Geithner.
These guys want jobs back through the revolving door. So should we call it intentionally tough or intentionally watered down?
“Banksters have been given de facto immunity from prosecution plus a bailout that would save their jobs and reputations and make them even wealthier. An effective Dodd-Frank Act could have been written in three pages.” – Bill Black