Financial Reform and Transparency in Hedge Fund Management

According to the article below, the Dodd-Frank Act seeks to restore trust and establish a sound regulatory framework for the financial services marketplace. It contains numerous components aimed at more transparency through the disclosure of relevant information and awareness of risk. Lets hope that it works that way.

   . . . June


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Press Release - Financial Reform Legislation and Transparency in Hedge Fund Management:
"September 11, 2010 /24-7PressRelease

With the economy sputtering, seeking to recover from the Great Recession that followed the financial meltdown of 2008, Congress worked for more than a year to develop comprehensive financial reform legislation. The result was the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which President Obama signed on July 21.

Dodd-Frank contains many features intended to require more transparency in financial transactions, so that elaborately packaged products do not create and disguise excessive risk that can harm unwary investors and consumers.

The concerns that led to the legislation reared their head during the 2008 crisis, but they had been building for years. Credit had been too easy to obtain for too many people. Subprime real estate loans, even for people with problematic credit histories or insufficient income, were the most obvious and egregious example. But the problems went beyond subprime loans. Investment banks and financial services firms package such loans and other forms of debt into numerous complex financial instruments that often were devoid of any transparency. And these same financial institutions took on more and more risk through credit default swaps and the use or ever-increasing leverage that placed the future existence of the institutions at great risk. Such risk is what led to the demise of investment banks like Lehman Brothers.

These financial problems infected the economy. Main Street, Wall Street and Washington spent much of 2008 and 2009 performing on-the-fly improvisation, trying to get credit flowing again in the midst of loan defaults, bankruptcies (including Lehman Brothers), rising foreclosures, high unemployment, and a huge government bailout of "too-big-to-fail" financial firms like AIG.

Read More . . .

Someone Passed All This Legislation! Wasn't It President Obama?

 The article below reflects very much how I feel about President Obama's accomplishments since taking office. He may not have accomplished everything on everyone's to-do list, but he certainly has tried.   And he has indeed done more than any president in memory in a very short time. Below is a list of actual accomplishments. It's pretty impressive!
   . . . June



Too much irrational thinking about President Obama
 The Jackson Sun  August 29, 2010 

  "What are the underlying motivations causing so many Americans — partisan politicos aside — to blame President Barack Obama for every problem short of indigestion? Has the guy done anything right? Has he done what he said he would do when he ran for office? Has he done anything?

Hmmm, let's see. Based on a number of media reports, I have compiled a short list:

• Passed health care reform, which millions of Americans agreed needed to be done and was a major plank in his campaign.
   
• Passed a $789 billion economic stimulus package that saved millions of jobs and has been regarded a success by many economists who generally know a lot more about the economy than you and I do.
   
• Bailed out the auto industry, which saved more than 1 million American manufacturing jobs and enabled General Motors to return to profitability.
   
• Supported a Wall Street bailout that, had it not been completed, would have led to an economic depression like the one in the 1930, according to former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.
   
• Passed the Wall Street reform and Consumer Protection Act to bring some order and new safeguards to the nation's financial system and consumer protection rules.
   
• Ended the U.S. combat mission in Iraq and withdrew combat troops as he promised he would do during the election.
   
• Won confirmation of two women, including the first Hispanic, to the U.S. Supreme Court with minimal political partisan bickering.
   
• Began phasing out the prison at Guantanamo Bay as he promised during the election.
   
• Deployed additional troops to Afghanistan that military leaders have been requesting for years.
   
• Removed many restrictions on embryonic stem cell research — currently stymied by a ruling from a conservative activist federal judge.

Read More . . . .

What Effect Will Credit Card Restrictions Have?

 It's finally the turn of the consumer to have some say in how their credit cards are managed - Or is it?  It seems to me that the credit card company have already implemented lots of changes in their favor while they waited for the changes to take place. It's for sure, the credit card companies aren't planning to suffer.
   . . . June


New credit card restrictions take effect - CNN.com 

"Washington (CNN) -- New rules designed to protect credit card users from 'unreasonable late payment and other penalty fees' come into force Sunday as a result of the Wall Street reform bill.

The rules block credit card companies from charging more than $25 for late payments except in extreme circumstances, prevent them from charging customers for not using their cards, and requires them to reconsider rate increases imposed since January 1, 2009, according to the Federal Reserve, which approved the regulations.

They are the final provisions of federal legislation that placed new restrictions on credit card interest rates and fees, completing the most comprehensive overhaul of the credit card industry in history.

The banking industry has already made changes in response to the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009, a spokesman said Sunday."

"The industry has moved swiftly to implement all of these changes and the final piece of the puzzle is now in place," said Kenneth Clayton of the American Bankers Association.
"It will still take some time before we can really see how the landscape has changed, but it is clear that consumer choice and control will ultimately drive further changes in the marketplace," he said in a statement.

The Fed's rules could result in lower interest rates for consumers
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