Article: Wall Street Warned by U.S. Regulators to Speed Up Libor Exit

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Wall Street Warned by U.S. Regulators to Speed Up Libor Exit

Jesse Hamilton, Alex Harris, and Christopher Condon, 11 June 2021

Wall Street banks must speed up their efforts to stop using Libor, regulators said Friday, issuing one of their sternest warnings yet about abandoning the scandal-plagued benchmark.

From Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, watchdogs made clear during a meeting of the Financial Stability Oversight Council that time is running out. The admonishment — coming from the heads of all of the U.S.’s most powerful financial agencies — marked a remarkably high-profile push to light a fire under banks including Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Continue reading “Article: Wall Street Warned by U.S. Regulators to Speed Up Libor Exit”

Article: Biden plan to subsidize child care could have unintended consequences, including price increases, experts say

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Biden plan to subsidize child care could have unintended consequences, including price increases, experts say

Tyler Olson, 04 May 2021

The subsidies for child care in President Biden’s American Families Plan could have some unintended consequences for both families and child care businesses, including price increases, experts tell Fox News.

The American Families Plan is the third installment in three massive spending bills the president has proposed. Continue reading “Article: Biden plan to subsidize child care could have unintended consequences, including price increases, experts say”

Article: The ex-convict’s tale: Germany’s role in Wirecard scandal under microscope

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The ex-convict’s tale: Germany’s role in Wirecard scandal under microscope

John O’donnell, Tom Sims, 23 April 2021

In February 2019, after a steep drop in Wirecard’s share price, German authorities launched criminal probes into short-sellers and journalists who had accused the company of fraud, and banned investors from betting against the company.

Documents seen by Reuters show for the first time that the only independent information – beyond Wirecard’s representations – received by Munich prosecutors who launched the criminal probes was a third-hand account of events from a convicted money launderer, Daniel James Harris.

The rationale that led to the decisions of prosecutors and regulators to launch the criminal probes and short-selling ban, and whether they were overzealous in supporting Wirecard, are central issues being investigated by a parliamentary inquiry into the company’s collapse in Germany’s biggest post-war fraud scandal. Continue reading “Article: The ex-convict’s tale: Germany’s role in Wirecard scandal under microscope”

Article: Libor Contracts Caught in Limbo Spur Calls for Congressional Fix

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Libor Contracts Caught in Limbo Spur Calls for Congressional Fix

Alexandra Harris, 15 April 2021

President Joe Biden’s administration and the Federal Reserve are pushing for U.S. lawmakers to ease Wall Street’s transition away from the London interbank offered rate and help head off legal headaches for many contracts that risk being left in limbo under present plans.

In testimony set to be delivered at a House Financial Services subcommittee meeting Thursday, officials from both the Treasury Department and the Fed will voice support for federal legislation that would allow for an orderly way to shift existing financial products from the discredited set of reference rates, which currently underpins trillions of dollars in securities, derivatives and other contracts. Continue reading “Article: Libor Contracts Caught in Limbo Spur Calls for Congressional Fix”

Article: Global Derivatives Cling to Libor Even as Its Retirement Nears

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Global Derivatives Cling to Libor Even as Its Retirement Nears

William Shaw and Alex Harris, 14 April 2021

Anyone hoping Libor’s death notice would accelerate the shift of hundreds of trillions of dollars worth of derivatives toward replacement benchmarks will be sorely disappointed.

In the U.S, just 4.7% of contracts traded in March were pegged to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate, or SOFR, the benchmark slated to replace the London interbank offered rate, according to data from the International Swaps and Derivatives Association released Wednesday. That’s down from 5% in February. Continue reading “Article: Global Derivatives Cling to Libor Even as Its Retirement Nears”

Article: Meet Patrick Byrne: Bitcoin Messiah, CEO of Overstock, Scourge of Wall Street

Article - Media, Publications, Uncategorized

Meet Patrick Byrne: Bitcoin Messiah, CEO of Overstock, Scourge of Wall Street

Cade Metz, WIRED, 18 February 2021

The problem with the modern economy, Byrne says, is that it rests on the whims of our government and our big banks, that each has the power to create money that’s backed by nothing but themselves. Thanks to what’s called fractional reserve banking, a bank can take in $10 in deposits, but then loan out $100. The government can make more dollars at any time, instantly reducing the currency’s value. Eventually, he says, laying down a classic libertarian metaphor, this “magic money tree” will come crashing down.

Continue reading “Article: Meet Patrick Byrne: Bitcoin Messiah, CEO of Overstock, Scourge of Wall Street”

Article: Burford Loses Bid For LSE Trader Info In Short-Selling Attack

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Burford Loses Bid For LSE Trader Info In Short-Selling Attack

Richard Crump, Ed Harris

Law360, 15 May 2020

Burford Capital has failed to win a court order to force the London Stock Exchange to hand over the names of traders that dealt in its shares. (iStock)

Judge Andrew Baker has refused to grant an application by Burford Capital Ltd. for a court order to force the exchange to hand over the names of traders that bought and sold the funder’s shares on Aug. 6 and 7, 2019.

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