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Fraud*
According to the Collins English Dictionary 10th Edition fraud can be defined as: "deceit, trickery, sharp practice, or breach of confidence, perpetrated for profit or to gain some unfair or dishonest advantage".[1] In the broadest sense, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation. Defrauding people or entities of money or valuables is a common purpose of fraud, but there have also been fraudulent "discoveries", e.g. in science, to gain prestige rather than immediate monetary gain
*As defined in Wikipedia

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Goldman Sachs's Gary Gensler

After reading up-to-date information on Gary Gensler, who worked for Goldman Sachs for 18 years, I have to admit that I have changed my mind about his ability to make good rules for regulating derivatives as head of the CFTC. Of course, everything will depend on how these rules are completed and policed before we can definitively say that progress has been made on regulating derivatives between financial institutions.

First, here is some biographical information on Gensler from Wikipedia:
As the Treasury Department’s undersecretary for domestic finance in the last two years of the Clinton administration, Gensler found himself in the position of overseeing policies in the areas of U.S. financial markets, debt management, financial services, and community development. Gensler advocated the passage of the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000, which exempted credit default swaps and other derivatives from regulation. The Senate was expected to examine his views on derivatives regulation during the Senate confirmation hearings.[4]

In March 2009, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) attempted to block his nomination to head the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. A statement from Sanders’ office said that Gensler “had worked with Sen. Phil Gramm and Alan Greenspan to exempt credit default swaps from regulation, which led to the collapse of AIG and has resulted in the largest taxpayer bailout in US history.” He also accused Gensler of working to deregulate electronic energy trading, which led to the downfall of Enron, and supporting the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which allowed American banks to become “too big to fail.”[5]

We can see that there are reasons to doubt Gensler's commitment to serving the public's interest. See also here, here and here.

But others view Gensler in a more positive light: See here, here and here.

I now have more respect for the problems that Gensler has to face in carrying out his mandate, not the least of which are the two viewpoints in Congress where some want more regulation and others want less. There is also a problem with funding the work of the CFTC.

One thing we are sure of: derivatives need to be regulated.

Here is Gensler talking about how he proposes to regulate and write the rules on derivatives:




See the video here


We sincerely hope that whatever regulations the CFTC comes up with, they will help to avoid speculation on food which has taken place in the past. See the article about Goldman Sachs's speculation on food in 2006 here.

5 COMMENTS:

Anonymous said...

Seems like everyone is compromised...so why should we believe in these regulators like Gensler to do the lawful thing?

So Why is the FCIC Protecting Bernanke & Co?

Yes, the question in the headline is rhetorical. We know that great efforts have been made and are continuing to be made not to reveal certain aspects of the financial crisis, and the only rationale that makes an iota of sense is the information would embarrass certain people in power.

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/02/so-why-is-the-fcic-protecting-bernanke-co.html

Anonymous said...

Vegas would ban these guys..............


Mario Draghi and Goldman Sachs, Again
Mario Draghi is now recognized as the leading candidate to replace Jean-Claude Trichet.
Prior to taking the helm of the Bank of Italy, he was vice chairman and managing director of Goldman Sachs International and a member of the firm-wide management committee (2002-2005)...
Mario Draghi's Role In Greek Debt Swaps Under Review...
All we need now to complete the picture is for an ex-Goldman employee to run for president of the United States and for another ex-Goldman employee to replace Bernanke at the Fed.
http://tinyurl.com/5ukc8hs

Joyce said...

So, to add to your nightmare of GS takeovers, there is also ex-FDIC deal maker, Joseph Jiampietro, who has joined Goldman Sachs as an investment banker. Seems to me that the information he has about the FDIC would be useful to GS. These movements of appointments/employment between government and finance, finance and government should be made illegal. GS benefits with all the insider knowledge of its new banker and that is why GS is famous for its skirting of the law and its pushing of the limits and this is just more grist for their mill.

Oh, Unhappy World!

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/02/11/ex-f-d-i-c-deal-maker-joins-goldman/

Anonymous said...

‘The Asylum:’ New Book Uncovers the Dark Side of the New York Merc

Bizarrely, the oil market’s main watchdog agency, The Commodity Futures Trading Commission in Washington, also did not seem to be doing much about the situation. What its chairmen and commissioners mostly cared about was using their proximity to the private sector to snag high-paying jobs on Wall Street, rather than fulfilling their public mission (which, lest anyone forget, is to protect U.S. consumers and troubleshoot market corruption). Congress, judges, U.S. presidents all, have followed suit in throwing up their hands.

Until this past year, committing fraud in the largest part of the energy market was not illegal.


http://www.cnbc.com/id/41598899

Anonymous said...

The SEC has $ for this but not real investigations against friends & family...

SEC Begins Sweep on Social Media and Networking
I won't lie - this is probably my biggest worry go forward. It's a fuzzy fuzzy world and I'd expect the SEC to want to make its "imprint" with someone as an example.

Looking into non business use of social media? Really?
http://www.fundmymutualfund.com/2011/02/sec-begins-sweep-on-social-media-and.html

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