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Hi friend,
Wow! I hope you got to see some or all of the conference we put on for the 15th Anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers. The all-star lineup was amazing and provided thought-provoking commentary and insights into the 2008 crash, the Dodd-Frank reform law, the 2023 banking crisis, the ongoing too-big-to-fail and too-big-to-jail issues, consumer and investor protections, and the continuing threats to Main Street Americans and our entire economy.
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You can find the full video of our conference here and videos of individual panels here.
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Too many forget, but the 2008 financial crisis caused the worse economy since the Great Depression of the 1930s. It put more than 25 million Americans out of work, resulted in 16 million foreclosure filings, and caused more than 40% of all homes to plummet in value so much that their mortgages were higher than they could sell their homes for. The savings, educations, and retirements of tens of millions of Americans evaporated, along with dreams and too often hope. At the same time as Main Street suffered grievously, Wall Street (which caused the crash and that suffering) got bailed out by taxpayers and then paid themselves $20 billion in bonuses in January 2010.
This is why we took the time to mark this tragic anniversary. Only by remembering and understanding the crisis—and our country’s response—can we enact reforms that will prevent the next crisis and properly protect Main Street. That's why, in addition to finding the speakers and panelists on our website, you can also find links to key materials and books about the crash and related issues as well as transcripts of the different sections of the conference.
Importantly, this isn’t distant history or irrelevant to today. As the 2023 banking crisis showed, our financial system is still way too fragile and financial reform simply has not gone far enough to protect the American people. Unfortunately, the money and power of the financial industry is still fighting reform to protect their profits and bonuses at the expense of hardworking Main Street Americans. That’s why Better Markets put on the conference—to give unconflicted and unbiased experts an opportunity to highlight these key issues—and will continue to stand up to Wall Street and fight for a financial system that supports the real economy that works for all Americans.
Best,
Dennis
Dennis Kelleher
Co-Founder, President & CEO, Better Markets
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The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) was supposed to help revitalize low- and moderate-income communities by providing credit to people who have historically been denied it. But it has failed, as highlighted by one shocking statistic: home ownership rates among the lowest income Americans are no greater today than they were when the CRA was passed into law 45 years ago. Yet, 99% of banks nevertheless get high CRA ratings!
The new proposal by the Fed, FDIC and OCC was supposed to fix the problems with the CRA, but our extensive statistical analysis shows that it won’t do the job and won’t even detect classic cases of redlining. Our brief explains how we can actually bring about the change that is needed.
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Over the last year, Better Markets fought KalshiEx, LLC’s (‘Kalshi’) multiple questionable attempts to get the CFTC to allow traders to place bets on U.S. elections via so-called “event contracts” with individual bets of up to $100 million and total betting likely running into the billions of dollars. We are pleased that the CFTC helped protect investors, markets, and our democracy by soundly rejecting this proposal.
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Carrie Tolstedt, former Wells Fargo senior executive, was sentenced to six months of home confinement for a crime she committed in connection with the multibillion, years-long phony accounts scandal. Basically, a judge sent her to her room in one of her mansions for six months. This soft punishment, along with the fact that she got to keep tens of millions of dollars she pocketed over the years the bank was breaking the law under her leadership, shows that the double standard of justice is still alive and well: white collar corporate criminals get treated with kid gloves off Main Street Americans get the book thrown at them for small offenses.
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Crypto is good for nothing but gambling, tax evasion, money laundering, ransomware, evading sanctions on outlaw states, and similar illegal conduct. Yet, there are still many in Washington willing to pocket their money and do their bidding. Thus, there is industry-friendly crypto bill pending in the House of Representatives, but it raises serious questions about investor, consumer, markets, and financial stability protections. Better Markets set a letter to U.S. House leadership raising these issues to make sure that they get considered.
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Better Markets in the News
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| “While big fines can serve an important purpose, big fines alone on big banks are paid by shareholders and will never be big enough to stop bankers from breaking the law.”
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Activities at the Regulatory Agencies
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Each month our legal team outlines some of the top cases we're keeping an eye on, the Amicus "Friend of the Court" Briefs we have filed, and why everyone with a bank account, credit card, mortgage loan, or retirement loan should be interested in those cases.
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| With the August recess over, Capitol Hill was a busy place this month as lawmakers conducted hearings across a number of important topics, from capital requirements to property insurance to oversight.
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Dennis Kelleher appeared on Bloomberg’s The Close in advance of the 15th Anniversary Lehman Collapse Conference to promote the conference and look back on the 2008 financial crash.
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