The U.S. has been using the weakness of the UBS banking franchise to shake down the organization for the names of American clients suspected of using the bank to dodge taxes in the United States. As far as the Swiss government is concerned, this would set a bad precedent in the Swiss banking community where [...]

"In many ways the effect of the crash on embezzlement was more significant than on suicide. To the economist embezzlement is the most interesting of crimes. Alone among the various forms of larceny it has a time parameter. Weeks, months, or years may elapse between the commission of the crime and its discovery. (This is [...]

We have just learned that Fiat has successfully completed its deal with Chrysler.  This means that the bankrupt ‘Old Chrysler’ will now have far fewer cash and assets available for creditors and that it will be liquidated with large or total losses likely for creditors.  Dissident creditors tried to get their case heard by the [...]

This case is going to the Supreme Court of the United States.  It will be a landmark ruling when the issue is decided. Take a look at what David Boies has to say about the issue.

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Here is the SEC press release regarding the fraud and insider trader alleged to have been perpetrated at Countrywide Financial, now a part of Bank of America (emphasis added):

It’s about time.  The SEC has finally charged a high level executive in the banking industry in connection with activities that led to the largest bubble in U.S. history.  The accused, as expected, is Angelo Mozilo, otherwise known as “The Man with the Tan.”  You will recall that I have been expecting this for some [...]

This is a video “discussing whether the Obama administration has intervened too much in business affairs, with Thomas Lauria, White & Case attorney and CNBC’s Michelle Caruso-Cabrera.”  As GM has similar circumstances, the case is still very relevant.
Note: I think Lauria forgets that the U.S. government had poured billions into the carmakers and that his [...]

Kate Kelly and Jon Hilsenrath have a story on the front of the Wall Street Journal today demonstrating the real problems with the revolving door between Wall Street and the regulators.  The essence of the story is this:  new York Fed Chairman Stephen Friedman is a director at Goldman Sachs, a company for which he [...]

Yesterday, I posted a video in which two auto experts argued that the dissident creditors were getting a raw deal (See “A discussion about Chrysler’s bankruptcy plan on Charlie Rose“). The crux of the problem is their belief that they were being railroaded into a deal in which they, as secured creditors, would receive [...]

Below is a very good video of John Bogle, the legendary investor, at Columbia Business School, hosted by CBS Professor David Beim. In his speech, Bogle places much of the blame for the present crisis with the increasingly hostile corporate governance environment of the last quarter-century, a point I make in my recent post “The [...]