Obama gift-wraps the SEC

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 20:59:00 +0000

If you pay attention to the upcoming Senate Banking Committee confirmation hearings for President Obama's nominee to head the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mary Jo White, you probably will not hear the term "regulatory capture" (aka the catch-all term for industries controlling the parts of government that are supposed to be independently regulating them). Yes, it's certainly possible that Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren will echo her previous criticism of the phenomenon (as she absolutely should), but by and large, the concept probably will not take center stage, even though White is the personification of that problem (more on that in a moment). That's because with so many committee lawmakers on bankrolled by major financial institutions, the committee itself has become a shining example of how regulatory capture works.

Morgan Stanley sued for subprime discrimination

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 18:58:00 +0000

The American Civil Liberties Union Monday filed a class action lawsuit against investment bank Morgan Stanley alleging racial discrimination in subprime mortgage practices.

As Colorlines noted, "The class-action lawsuit, submitted in a federal court a stones throw from the New York Stock Exchange, alleges that Morgan Stanley [via now-bankrupt financial agent, New Century Mortgage Company] intentionally steered blacks in the Detroit metropolitan region into subprime loans. Blacks who were credit-worthy and qualified for traditional mortgages were caught up in Morgan Stanley’s biased dragnet."

Of the 9 million foreclosures since 2007, four out of 10 have been against people of color. Both Bank of America and Wells Fargo have settled discrimination lawsuits over steering black and Latino borrowers into subprime loans. "Race was laced throughout Wall Street’s activities," Colorlines' Imara Jones commented.

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Obama gift-wraps the SEC

Morgan Stanley sued for subprime discrimination