The Bankers... They Are Saved...

[MannyGoldstein]

Praise Midas!

Top Regulators Give Banks a Bit of Breathing Room

I'm glad they finally caught a break.

Regards,

Third-Way Manny

[Marr]

1. Remember all those 80's 'future dystopia' films where corporations ran everything?

At least THOSE outfits MADE something. Killer robots, biological monstrosities... but at least they DID something. We've ended up with a privileged business class that doesn't do anything but come up with new math scams and shell games.

[Demo_Chris]

22. I want zombies!

[Skittles]

2. who could have seen THAT coming, Manny-mon?

[Nye Bevan]

3. Has Elizabeth Warren weighed in on this? (nt)

[MannyGoldstein]

5. That *difficult* woman?

She'll probably prattle on about "solvency" and "not stealing Americans blind" and some such claptrap.

A very difficult woman, that one is.

Regards,

Third-Way Manny

[Dokkie]

27. But she did support the

banker bailout. We should used the Icelandic approach and tell em all to fuck off

[JaneyVee]

4. whew, for a moment there I was worried.

[NutmegYankee]

6. Behold the glory of our corporate masters.

[banned from Kos]

7. Were there any good Matt Taibbi threads today?

I mainly watched football.

[ReRe]

20. ;-)

... A Matt Taibbi discussion? Oh, Si Senor!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022143810

[ProSense]

8. So they won more time?

From the article linked to:

A group of top regulators and central bankers on Sunday gave banks around the world more time to meet new rules aimed at preventing financial crises, saying they wanted to avoid the possibility of damaging the economic recovery.

<...>

Although the Basel Committee drafts global banking rules, it is up to individual countries to write them into law. The United States has lagged countries including China, India and Saudi Arabia in putting the rules into force, according to an assessment by the Basel Committee in September. The American delay has led to some grumbling from other members.

Bank industry representatives have argued that stricter capital and liquidity requirements increase banks’ financing costs, which they must pass on to customers. One of the most vocal critics of the new regulations is the Institute of International Finance in Washington, whose members include many large American and European banks, including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank.

Same BS complaints from the banks.

The Basel rules were among the G-20 proposals in 2009 and were enacted into law as part of Wall Street reform.

Advance Tough New Financial Market Regulations: Following aggressive U.S. efforts to strengthen capital standards and compensation rules for companies receiving government support, the G-20 agreed to strong international standards for bank capital – calling on banks to hold more and higher quality capital -- and also agreed to strong international standards for compensation aimed at ending practices that lead to excessive risk-taking. Capital allows banks to withstand losses and is thus crucial to our efforts to help regulators hold banks accountable for the risks they take. These vital reforms were joined with steps to make the opaque over-thecounter (OTC) derivatives markets far more transparent; and procedures for managing the failure of large global financial firms. In each of these areas, the G-20 countries set out strict and precise timetables for reaching international agreement and then for implementing new standards nationally, promoting a regulatory race to the top. These rules will result in a financial system that looks far different from the one that led to this financial crisis, with more capacity to absorb losses and new incentives to avoid a return to past excesses. A return to reckless behavior and a lack of responsibility that led to the crisis will not be tolerated.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/files/documents/g20/Fact_Sheet_Pittsburgh_Outcomes.pdf

[DJ13]

9. Thats a relief

I was worried they might have to actually make loans or compete on credit card interest rates to scrape by.

[banned from Kos]

10. Mortgage rates are at an all-time low

The Fed has helped push them down.

[JDPriestly]

13. In finance, for every winner there is a loser.

And this time, the losers are the prudent, careful savers who get next to nothing for their savings. That may change one of these days.

I always tell people to buy houses when interest rates are high because prices usually go down. You can refinance when the interest rates go up -- and you have a house that costs less. If you buy when prices are high and interest rates down, your payments will never go down. And you pay more for your house than you may be able to get out of it if interest rates go up.

Usually, housing prices go up when interest rates are low. Of course, this time may be an exception because we just went through the bursting of a housing bubble.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

16. then time to get busy on the fucking credit cards.

[hay rick]

11. ThirdWay Manny is on vacation? nt

[MannyGoldstein]

14. Oops, forgot the signature.

Will fix it.

[Oilwellian]

12. Do you suppose...

The Third Way secretly means doggy style?

[wrenken]

15. What do you Expect?

This country is not about the people anymore. It is about the wealthy. They write our laws. They are in charge. Remember the Roman empire. We have spectacles to see. How are the football playoffs going? What is up with the Miami Heat? What is up on American Idol? We are not to pay attention to politics. That is for the elite.

[OnyxCollie]

17. They are Saved.

They are doing God's work.

[woo me with science]

18. I really hope this makes them feel more secure.

I heard that if we help them feel more secure, they might start creating some good jobs.

[LeftInTX]

19. What's new?

[TheKentuckian]

21. Thank goodness!

We were close to inconveniencing the "stakeholders" that time! Whew!!!

[UnrepentantLiberal]

23. Yay!

[JReed]

24. And with them our debt

[Cowpunk]

25. These guys should be dubbed "The Committee To Re-Save The World"

"On Sunday the central bankers and regulators broadened the definition of liquid assets. For example, banks will be allowed to use securities backed by mortgages to meet a portion of the requirement."

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

[Wilms]

26. ^

[lunasun]

28. They rule!

[Fumesucker]

29. Let us now give praise to our plutocratic overlords

Surely avarice and gluttony shall follow them all the days of their lives and they shall dwell in the house of Mammon forever.

In Croesus' name we pray, Amen.

[OccupyManny]

30. Bankers are scum

Rubin, Dimon, Fuld, Blankfein, Corzine. Should all be in jail with their butt buddy Bush.