The FinReg Pod: Recent Episodes
Global Financial Markets Center
Go behind the scenes of some of the most interesting topics at the intersection of finance, law, and public policy. Hosted by Lee Reiners, executive director of the Global Financial Markets Center at Duke University School of Law.
Professor Anat Admati, co-author of The Bankers’ New Clothes, discusses the new and expanded edition of her groundbreaking book. Anat and Lee reflect on the persistent fragility of the banking system, the Federal Reserve’s Basel Endgame proposal, and the future of international regulatory coordination. Anat also shares her insights on why stronger bank equity requirements are essential and how myths perpetuated by the banking industry continue to shape public policy.
Related Links:
The Bankers’ New Clothes | Princeton University Press
Nonsense and Bad Rules Persist in Banking by Anat R. Admati - Project Syndicate
What is bank capital? What is the Basel III Endgame?
Speech by Vice Chair for Supervision Barr on Basel III endgame - Federal Reserve Board
A Federal Reserve Regulator Who Deserves the Boot - WSJ
Yasmin Farahi and Lucia Constantine from the Center for Responsible Lending discuss the promises and perils of Earned Wage Access programs. Discover how these fintech products operate, the financial traps they can create, and the regulatory debates shaping their future.
Related Links:
A Loan Shark in Your Pocket: The Perils of Earned Wage Advance
Paying to be Paid: Consumer Protections Needed for Earned Wage Advances and Other Fintech Cash Advances
Not Free: The Large Hidden Costs of Small-Dollar Loans Made Through Cash Advance Apps
CFPB Proposes Interpretive Rule to Ensure Workers Know the Costs and Fees of Paycheck Advance Products
House of Representatives Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Inclusion Subcommittee Hearing “Modernizing Financial Services through Innovation and Competition.” Statement for the Record Ram Palaniappan, CEO, EarnIn October 25, 2023
Justin Sherman is the founder and CEO of Global Cyber Strategies, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, and an adjunct professor and senior fellow at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy, where he founded and leads its data brokerage research project. He joins Lee to discuss how data brokers obtain and use sensitive data, the role they play in financial services, and the current regulatory landscape attempting to address these practices.
Lee’s X: @leereiners
Justin’s X: @jshermcyber
Related Links:
CFPB Launches Inquiry Into the Business Practices of Data Brokers | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (consumerfinance.gov)
Prepared Opening Remarks of CFPB Director Rohit Chopra at the Aspen Institute on Abuse and Misuse of Our Personal Data | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (consumerfinance.gov)
CFPB Takes Action to Curb Unchecked Worker Surveillance | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (consumerfinance.gov)
How to surveil a federal regulator - POLITICO
Fed, intel and military groups warn data broker practices may threaten national security - Nextgov/FCW
Microsoft Word - Duke Team Response to CFPB RFI on Data Brokers.docx
Data Brokers and the Sale of Data on U.S. Military Personnel - Tech Policy @ Sanford | Tech Policy @ Sanford (duke.edu)
The U.S. Needs Controls on Data Brokerage | TechPolicy.Press
Examining data broker Equifax’s relationships with millions of employers - Tech Policy @ Sanford | Tech Policy @ Sanford (duke.edu)
Dan Berkovitz and Laurian Cristea discuss the regulatory and ethical challenges surrounding political event contracts. They explore the history, recent legal developments, and the future implications of betting on political outcomes, especially as the CFTC tightens its stance on these controversial markets.
Lee’s X: @leereiners
Related Links:
CFTC proposed amendments to its rules concerning event contracts in certain excluded commodities: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/07/05/2024-14610/event-contracts
Elections Bets Go Live on Kalshi After CFTC's Court Loss: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/securities-law/betting-on-us-congress-elections-outcome-green-lit-by-judge
US appeals court clears Kalshi to restart elections betting: https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-federal-court-upholds-ruling-letting-kalshiex-list-election-betting-contracts-2024-10-02/
Statement of Chairman Rostin Behnam Regarding CFTC Order to Prohibit Kalshi Political Control Derivatives Contracts: https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/SpeechesTestimony/behnamstatement092223
A Mystery $30 Million Wave of Pro-Trump Bets Has Moved a Popular Prediction Market: https://www.wsj.com/finance/betting-election-pro-trump-ad74aa71
Ed DeMarco is president of the Housing Policy Council and former acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. He discusses the rise of nonbank mortgage companies and what the Financial Stability Oversight Council’s recent report on nonbank mortgage servicing gets right and what it gets wrong. Ed also offers his thoughts on the FHFA’s Title Insurance Waiver Pilot Program, Freddie Mac's proposal to purchase second mortgages, and the CFPB’s inquiry into junk fees in mortgage closing costs. Finally, DeMarco shares his views on Kamala Harris’ housing policy proposals and their potential impact on the housing market.
Lee’s X: @leereiners
Related Links:
FSOC Report on Nonbank Mortgage Servicing: https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2331
Director Sandra Thompson's Statement on Title Acceptance Pilot: https://www.fhfa.gov/news/statement/director-sandra-thompsons-statement-on-title-acceptance-pilot
FHFA Announces Conditional Approval of Freddie Mac Pilot to Purchase Second Mortgages: https://www.fhfa.gov/news/news-release/fhfa-announces-conditional-approval-of-freddie-mac-pilot-to-purchase-second-mortgages
CFPB Launches Inquiry into Junk Fees in Mortgage Closing Costs: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-launches-inquiry-into-junk-fees-in-mortgage-closing-costs/
Housing Finance Quick Takes video series: https://www.housingpolicycouncil.org/hfqt
Graham Steele is the former Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. He discusses insights from his latest paper for the Roosevelt Institute, "The End of Banking History? Finishing the Unfinished Business of Financial Reform." From the impact of the 2018 deregulatory “tailoring” project, which weakened post-crisis reforms, to the cascading failures of regional banks like Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in 2023, Graham laid out his view on why the current regulatory framework is falling short and what needs to change.
Graham’s X: @steelewheelz
Lee’s X: @leereiners
Related Links:
The End of Banking History? Finishing the Unfinished Business of Financial Reform: https://rooseveltinstitute.org/publications/the-end-of-banking-history/
Remarks by Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions Graham Steele at the George Washington University Law School Business & Finance Law Program: https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2029
Kathryn Judge is a professor at Columbia Law School and Aaron Klein is a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. They discuss the origins of the Federal Home Loan Banks, the role they played in propping up failing banks in the 2023 regional banking crisis, and their ideas for how the FHLBs can be reformed to better fulfill their public mission to promote housing and community development.
Kate Judge’s X: @ProfKateJudge
Aaron Klein’s X: @Aarondklein
Lee’s X: @leereiners
Related Links:
Comment Letter on FHLB Mission Statemen, Kathryn Judge and Aaron Klein: https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Klein-Judge-FHLB-mission-statement-comment-FINALpdf.pdf
Forum on the future of the Federal Home Loan Bank system: Highlights from the Brookings and BU Law event, Aaron Klein, Cornelius Hurley, and Harrison Fregeau: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/forum-on-the-future-of-the-federal-home-loan-bank-system-highlights-from-the-brookings-and-bu-law-event/
How to fix the Federal Home Loan Banks, Kathryn Judge and Aaron Klein: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-to-fix-federal-home-loan-banks/
FHLBank System at 100: Focusing on the Future, Federal Housing Finance Agency: https://www.fhfa.gov/sites/default/files/2024-01/FHLBank-System-at-100-Report.pdf
John Coates is the John F. Cogan, Jr. Professor of Law and Economics at Harvard Law School and author of “The Problem of Twelve: When a Few Financial Institutions Control Everything.” According to John, a problem of twelve arises when a small number of institutions acquire the means to exert outsized influence over the politics and economy of a nation. In this episode, John discusses insights from his book and how the concentration of corporate power in the hands of a small group of institutional investors, specifically index funds and private equity funds, undermines our democracy.
Lee’s X: @leereiners
Lee’s Website: www.leereiners.com
Related Links:
The Problem of Twelve: When a Few Financial Institutions Control Everything: https://www.amazon.com/Problem-Twelve-Financial-Institutions-Everything/dp/B0BW67PX7B
Art Wilmarth, Professor Emeritus of Law at the George Washington University Law School, reflects on the regional banking crisis of spring 2023 and how decisions made by regulators to resolve Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, First Republic Bank, and Credit Suisse reveal that we have still not solved the Too Big to Fail problem.
Lee’s X: @leereiners
Lee’s Website: www.leereiners.com
Related Links:
The FDIC’s resolution plan for failed megabanks is an empty promise: https://www.americanbanker.com/opinion/the-fdics-resolution-plan-for-failed-megabanks-is-an-empty-promise
Regulators should reject big-bank arguments against stronger capital requirements: https://thehill.com/opinion/4715182-regulators-should-reject-big-bank-arguments-against-stronger-capital-requirements/
We Need a New Glass-Steagall Act to End the Toxic Symbiosis Between Universal Banks and Shadow Banks, Which Professor Corrigan Has More Fully Revealed: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4794680
Statement by Martin J. Gruenberg, Chairman, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation on Title 1 Resolution Plan Feedback Letters for 8 U.S. GSIBs: https://www.fdic.gov/news/speeches/statement-martin-j-gruenberg-chairman-federal-deposit-insurance-corporation-title-1
Martin J. Gruenberg, Chairman, FDIC Lessons Learned from the U.S. Regional Bank Failures of 2023 Florence School of Banking and Finance: https://www.fdic.gov/news/speeches/martin-j-gruenberg-chairman-fdic-lessons-learned-us-regional-bank-failures-2023
US regulator criticises Swiss handling of Credit Suisse as ‘unhelpful’: https://www.ft.com/content/9fb79310-b8e4-47d8-99cf-a7630eae59e7
FDIC Board of Directors Approves Final Revised Rule to Strengthen Resolution Planning for Large Banks: https://www.fdic.gov/news/press-releases/fdic-board-directors-approves-final-revised-rule-strengthen-resolution-planning
Overview of Resolution Under Title II of the Dodd-Frank Act: https://www.fdic.gov/sites/default/files/2024-04/spapr1024b_0.pdf
Eric Spitler, former Director of the Office of Legislative Affairs at the FDIC, discusses his paper on the history of bank runs and how he would reform deposit insurance to address the weaknesses revealed by last spring’s regional banking crisis.
Lee’s X: @leereiners
Related Links:
Yelling 'Fire' in the Financial Theater: Bank Runs in the Social Media Age and the Threat to Financial Stability: https://scholarship.law.unc.edu/ncbi/vol28/iss1/5/
The Deposit Insurance Funds as an Early Resolution Tool: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4897571
Danny Cullenward is a distinguished Senior Fellow with the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. He joined Lee to discuss the current state of voluntary carbon credit markets and efforts in the U.S. and abroad to regulate carbon credits.
Lee’s X: @leereiners
Related Links:
Danny’s website: https://www.ghgpolicy.org/
Webinar: What Role Will Carbon Removal Play Under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement? https://youtu.be/jovH809dhg0?si=e96ktXxTcRcKJvRd
Sean Vanatta is a lecturer in US Economic and Social History at the University of Glasgow and author of the new book "Plastic Capitalism: Banks, Credit Cards, and the End of Financial Control." Sean sits down with Lee to discuss the history of credit cards in the United States and how this history informs current policy debates, including Capital One’s proposed acquisition of Discover and the Credit Card Competition Act.
Lee’s X: @leereiners
Sean’s X: @SeanVanatta
Related Links
Plastic Capitalism: Banks, Credit Cards, and the End of Financial Control: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300247343/plastic-capitalism/
Jonah Crane, a partner at Klaros Group and former Treasury Department official, breaks down the recent collapse of fintech company Synapse, which has left thousands of customers without access to their funds. Crane also reflects on the regulatory response and the broader impact Synapse’s failure will have on Banking as a Service.
Lee’s X: @leereiners
Jonah’s X: @JonahCrane
Related Links
Klaros Group: https://www.klaros.com/
Does BaaS have a future: https://www.klaros.com/post/does-baas-have-a-future
Nearly $109 million in deposits held for fintech Yotta’s customers vanished in Synapse collapse, bank says: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/06/21/synapse-collapse-nearly-109m-in-yotta-customer-deposits-vanish.html
Abrupt shutdown of financial middleman Synapse has frozen thousands of Americans’ deposits: https://apnews.com/article/synapse-evolve-bank-fintech-accounts-frozen-07ecb45f807a8114cac7438e7a66b512
Prometheum is the one firm that other crypto firms love to hate. This is because the firm’s founders and co-CEOs, brothers Aaron and Ben Kaplan, have consistently and publicly argued that most cryptocurrencies are investment contracts subject to SEC registration requirements. In this episode, Aaron Kaplan joins Lee to discuss the process Prometheum followed to receive regulatory approve to operate an alternative trading system and special purpose broker dealer, which allows the firm to offer trading, clearing, settlement, and custody of digital asset securities. Aaron also addresses the frequent criticisms leveled at his firm and offers his thoughts on the future of the digital asset industry.
Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners
Related Links
*Prometheum Receives First of Its Kind Approval From FINRA to Clear and Settle Digital Asset Securities: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240110419249/en/Prometheum-Receives-First-of-Its-Kind-Approval-From-FINRA-to-Clear-and-Settle-Digital-Asset-Securities
*Prometheum Announces Custodial Services for Ether (ETH), Opens Account Sign Up For Institutional clients: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240207966185/en/Prometheum-Announces-Custodial-Services-for-Ether-ETH-Opens-Account-Sign-Up-For-Institutional-Clients
*SEC may be forced to declare Ethereum a security after controversial new launch: https://fortune.com/crypto/2024/02/07/sec-prometheum-ethereum-broker-dealer-gary-gensler-coinbase/
*Blockchain Association Calls for Investigation into SEC Approval of Prometheum Ember Capital as Special Purpose Broker-Dealer: https://theblockchainassociation.org/blockchainassociation-calls-for-investigation-into-sec-approval-of-prometheum-ember-capital-as-special-purpose-broker-dealer/
*‘Crypto Communism’? Not in America: https://www.wsj.com/articles/prometheum-digital-asset-crypto-china-wanxiang-tuberville-eab5629b
*U.S. Senator Tuberville Asks DOJ, SEC to Investigate Crypto Broker Prometheum:
https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/07/10/us-senator-tuberville-asks-doj-sec-to-investigate-crypto-broker-prometheum/
*Testimony of: Aaron Kaplan Co-CEO and Founder, Prometheum, Inc. Before the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee: https://docs.house.gov/meetings/BA/BA00/20230613/116085/HHRG-118-BA00-Wstate-KaplanA-20230613.pdf
*Agriculture, Financial Services Republicans Demand Sec Clarify Position Regarding Prometheum’s Custody Of Ethereum’s Ether: https://agriculture.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=7749
Well Fargo was an iconic and respected American Brand. But then, in September 2016, in a settlement with the City of Los Angeles, the OCC, and CFPB, it was revealed that approximately 5,300 Wells Fargo employees had been terminated between 2011 and 2016, for sales practice violations that included opening over two million unauthorized deposit and credit card accounts. Earlier this year, Kevin Wack published a 5-part series in the American Banker that shed new details on the scandal. Kevin came on the show to talk about how the series came together and what his reporting uncovered. He also provides an update on what has happened to some of the senior executives involved in the scandal and shares his thoughts on the enduring lessons the Wells Fargo scandal provides.
Leave questions and comments at lee.reiners@duke.edu
Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners
Related Links
*Alarm bells, arrogance and the crisis at Wells Fargo: https://www.americanbanker.com/news/alarm-bells-arrogance-and-the-crisis-at-wells-fargo
*How Wells Fargo's Aggressive Sales Culture Took Root: https://www.americanbanker.com/news/how-wells-fargos-aggressive-sales-culture-took-root
*Wells Execs Stuck to the Script as Evidence of Sales Abuses Mounted: https://www.americanbanker.com/news/wells-execs-stuck-to-the-script-as-evidence-of-sales-abuses-mounted
*Deal to put ex-Wells Fargo executive behind bars sends tough message: https://www.americanbanker.com/news/deal-to-put-ex-wells-fargo-executive-behind-bars-sends-tough-message
*The Rise and Fall of Wells Fargo with Dick Kovacevich: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7f2D7PL9ZM1zLlnNCneK0L
*Wells Fargo Unauthorized Account Openings: A Case Study for Bank Board Directors: https://sites.duke.edu/thefinregblog/2017/04/26/phony-accounts-scandal-a-case-study-for-bank-board-directors/
James Wigginton has thought deeply about economic power and the role cooperatives can play in ensuring Web3 lives up to its stated potential of sharing ownership with users in digital networks. James joins Lee to discuss how cooperatives can be used by Web3 firms to engage with their users, strengthen digital networks, and remain compliant with securities laws. James also talks about the potential for sports fans to own a part of their favorite teams by allowing cooperatives to take minority stakes in teams.
Leave questions and comments at lee.reiners@duke.edu
Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners
Related Links
*Cooperatives: An Ownership Model for Digital Networks: https://media.orrick.com/Media%20Library/public/files/insights/2023/cooperatives-path-to-compliance-for-web3.pdf
*Can fan-owned cooperatives change the relationship between fans and owners for the better? https://theathletic.com/4783026/2023/08/17/fan-cooperatives-sports-ownership/?access_token=13946098
Alicia Seiger is a lecturer at Stanford Law and the managing director of Stanford’s Sustainable Finance Initiative. And Marc Roston is the founder of investment advisory firm MNR Capital and a senior research scholar at Stanford University’s Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance. In this episode, Alicia and Marc offer their perspective on the problems with the current method of corporate carbon counting, known as the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. They also break down a new carbon accounting methodology they’ve developed called Emissions Liability Management, or ELM.
Leave questions and comments at lee.reiners@duke.edu
Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners
Related Links
*Carbon Accounting and Emissions Liability Management:
https://sfi.stanford.edu/carbon-accounting-and-emissions-liability-management
*Settling Climate Accounts: Navigating the Road to Net Zero:
https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-83650-4
*Accounting for Climate Change: https://hbr.org/2021/11/accounting-for-climate-change
Tony McLaughlin is Managing Director for Emerging Payments & Business Development at Citi Treasury & Trade Solutions. In this episode, Tony offers his thoughts on the latest developments in payments, including stablecoins, central bank digital currency, and FedNow. He also breaks down an exciting new project he’s been working on, called the Regulated Liability Network (RLN). RLN envisions a regulated Financial Market Infrastructure that could deliver an interoperable network of all facets of the sovereign currency system: central bank money, commercial bank money, and e-money (and in the future, regulated stablecoins).
Leave questions and comments at lee.reiners@duke.edu
Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners
Related Links
*The Regulated Liability Network Whitepaper https://regulatedliabilitynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/The-Regulated-Liability-Network-Whitepaper.pdf
*Regulated Liability Network U.S. Proof of Concept Findings https://www.rlnuspoc.org/home#subpage/introduction/section/w3rk7
Joe Davis is chief economist at Vanguard as well as the global head of Vanguard Investment Strategy Group. In this episode, Joe offers his thoughts on what’s driving inflation, how the Federal Reserve is likely to respond at their upcoming policy meeting and beyond, and how investors can insulate their portfolio from inflations pernicious effects. Joe and Lee also reflect on key lessons learned from the last 15 years of economic policymaking.Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners
GFMC Twitter: @DukeGFMC
Related Links
Ukraine and the Changing Market Environment Vanguard https://advisors.vanguard.com/insights/article/ukraineandthechangingmarketenvironment
Why Do We Think That Inflation Expectations Matter for Inflation? (And Should We?) Jeremy B. Rudd
https://doi.org/10.17016/FEDS.2021.062
Will Inflation Stay High for Decades? One Influential Economist Says Yes Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/articles/inflation-high-forecast-economist-goodhart-cpi-11646837755
Ari Redbord is the head of legal and government affairs for the blockchain intelligence firm, TRM Labs. Prior to joining TRM Labs, Ari held public sector roles involving cryptocurrency and national security at the Department of Justice and U.S. Department of the Treasury. In this episode, Ari and Lee break down President Biden’s executive order on cryptocurrency.
Ari Redbord’s Twitter: @ARedbord
TRM Labs Twitter: @TRMLabs
Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners
GFMC Twitter: @DukeGFMC
Related Links
Executive Order on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/03/09/executive-order-on-ensuring-responsible-development-of-digital-assets/
FACT SHEET: President Biden to Sign Executive Order on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/03/09/fact-sheet-president-biden-to-sign-executive-order-on-ensuring-responsible-innovation-in-digital-assets/ Background Press Call by Senior Administration Officials on the President’s New Digital Assets Executive Order https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2022/03/09/background-press-call-by-senior-administration-officials-on-the-presidents-new-digital-assets-executive-order/
Barbara Haya directs the Berkeley Carbon Trading Project. Barbara joins Lee to explain what carbon offsets are and the considerations that must be addressed to ensure that offset credits entering into commerce reflect real, verifiable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Specifically, Barbara details why most offset programs issue more credits than they should, and recent policy efforts to bring greater integrity to the voluntary offset market.
Barbara’s Twitter: @Barbara_Haya
GFMC’s Twitter: @DukeGFMC
Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners
Related Links:
POLICY BRIEF: The California Air Resources Board’s U.S. Forest offset protocol underestimates leakage by Barbara Haya https://gspp.berkeley.edu/faculty-and-impact/working-papers/policy-brief-arbas-us-forest-projects-offset-protocol-underestimates-leaka
- Measuring Emissions Against an Alternative Future: Fundamental Flaws in the Structure of the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism* by Barbara Haya https://gspp.berkeley.edu/faculty-and-impact/working-papers/measuring-emissions-against-an-alternative-future-fundamental-flaws-in-the-
Barbara Haya directs the Berkeley Carbon Trading Project. Barbara joins Lee to explain what carbon offsets are and the considerations that must be addressed to ensure that offset credits entering into commerce reflect real, verifiable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Specifically, Barbara details why most offset programs issue more credits than they should, and recent policy efforts to bring greater integrity to the voluntary offset market.
Barbara’s Twitter: @Barbara_Haya
GFMC’s Twitter: @DukeGFMC
Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners
Related Links:
POLICY BRIEF: The California Air Resources Board’s U.S. Forest offset protocol underestimates leakage by Barbara Haya https://gspp.berkeley.edu/faculty-and-impact/working-papers/policy-brief-arbas-us-forest-projects-offset-protocol-underestimates-leaka
- Measuring Emissions Against an Alternative Future: Fundamental Flaws in the Structure of the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism* by Barbara Haya https://gspp.berkeley.edu/faculty-and-impact/working-papers/measuring-emissions-against-an-alternative-future-fundamental-flaws-in-the-
Jeremy Kress is Assistant Professor of Business Law at Michigan Ross and Co-Faculty Director of the University of Michigan’s Center on Finance, Law & Policy. Jeremy joins Lee to discuss how policymakers’ long-standing approach to bank antitrust—premised on consumer welfare—has reduced the cost and availability of basic financial services and ignores numerous non-price harms stemming from bank consolidation. Jeremy details how the Chicago school of antitrust and its focus on consumer welfare came to dominate bank merger review, the impact of fintech on bank competition, and recent policy actions that foreshadow a more stringent review of bank mergers going forward.
Jeremy’s Twitter: @Jeremy_Kress
GFMC’s Twitter: @DukeGFMC
Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners
Related Links:
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Modernizing Bank Merger Review* by Jeremy Kress https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3440914
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Reviving Bank Antitrust * by Jeremy Kress https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4039197
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Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American* https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/07/09/executive-order-on-promoting-competition-in-the-american-economy/
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Antitrust Division Seeks Additional Public Comments on Bank Merger Competitive Analysis* U.S. Department of Justice https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/antitrust-division-seeks-additional-public-comments-bank-merger-competitive-analysis
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Request for Public Comment on the Bank Merger Act* Joint Statement of Martin J. Gruenberg and Rohit Chopra, Members, FDIC Board of Directors https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_bank-merger-act-rfi_joint-statement_2021-12.pdf
Mike Bloomberg is the Public Infrastructure Fellow at the NewCities Foundation and a Visiting Researcher with the Urban Tech Hub at Cornell Tech. In this episode, he examines the dark side of U.S. cities embracing cryptocurrency. Mike and Lee discuss how MiamiCoin and NYC Coin actually work, the nebulous legal relationship between these coins and the cities of Miami and New York, and why anyone would bother purchasing or mining these coins. They also discuss the legal and regulatory risks mayors are taking on by embracing crypto.
Mike’s Twitter: @BloombergME
GFMC’s Twitter: @DukeGFMC
Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners
Related Links:
CityCoins Website: https://www.citycoins.co/
Money for nothing: Cities’ crypto push draws fans, critics Associated Press: https://apnews.com/article/cryptocurrency-business-new-york-miami-coin-f076e0e8b80adf74fdeebaeae9188e70
Jay Brown and Kathleen Hamm are former board members of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or PCAOB. Jay and Kathleen join Lee to discuss the origins of the PCAOB and the ongoing challenges the agency faces. Specifically, they discuss the role of auditors in overseeing non-financial reporting such as ESG disclosure, the difficulty in getting US-listed Chinese companies to comply with American auditing standards, and whether PCAOB standards adequately reflect the risks of a cyber incident at issuers or at the auditors themselves. Jay’s Profile: https://www.law.du.edu/about/people/j-robert-brown-jr
Kathleen’s Profile: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Hamm
GFMC’s Twitter: @DukeGFMC
Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners
On January 20th, the Federal Reserve released a discussion paper that examines the pros and cons of a potential U.S. central bank digital currency, or CBDC. In this episode, Marcelo Prates joins Lee to breakdown the paper’s findings and the future of CBDCs in the U.S. and elsewhere. Marcelo is a lawyer at the Central Bank of Brazil and a columnist at cryptocurrency news site, Coindesk.
Marcelo’s Twitter: @MarceloMPrates
Related Links:
Money and Payments: The U.S. Dollar in the Age of Digital Transformation, the Federal Reserve Board. https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/money-and-payments-discussion-paper.htm No Reason to Fear Central Bank Digital Currencies by Marcelo Prates
https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2021/05/17/no-reason-to-fear-central-bank-digital-currencies/
- Legal troubles may delay CBDCs* by Marcelo Prates https://www.omfif.org/2021/02/legal-troubles-may-delay-cbdcs/
CBDC: A Solution in Search of a Problem? by Federal Reserve Board Governor Christopher Waller https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/waller20210805a.htm
Art Wilmarth is Professor Emeritus at The George Washington University Law School. In this episode, Art discusses his new paper, “It’s Time to Regulate Stablecoins as Deposits and Require Their Issuers to Be FDIC-Insured Banks.” Specifically, Art explains why he believes that stablecoin issuers and distributors should be required to become FDIC-insured banks and the other steps he would like to see financial regulators take in the interim, including having the SEC use its existing authority to regulate stablecoins as “securities” and having the Department of Justice designate stablecoins as “deposits” and bring enforcement actions to prevent issuers and distributors of stablecoins from unlawfully receiving “deposits” in violation of Section 21(a) of the Glass-Steagall Act. Related Links:
Art’s profile: Arthur E. Wilmarth, Jr. | GW Law | The George Washington University (gwu.edu)
It’s Time to Regulate Stablecoins as Deposits and Require Their Issuers to Be FDIC-Insured Banks: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4000795
President’s Working Group on Financial Markets Report on Stablecoins: https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0454
Hilary Allen is a professor of law at the American University Washington College of Law and author of “Driverless Finance: Fintech’s Impact on Financial Stability.” In this episode, Hilary discusses the financial stability risks associated with the rise of crypto-assets, fintech payments, and machine learning; and why she believes regulators should be guided by the precautionary principle in addressing these risks.
Hilary’s Profile: https://www.wcl.american.edu/community/faculty/profile/hjallen/bio
Hilary’s Twitter: @ProfHilaryAllen
GFMC’s Twitter: @DukeGFMC
Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners
Related Links:
Driverless Finance: Fintech’s Impact on Financial Stability by Hilary Allen
Sara Greene is a sociologist and legal scholar whose research utilizes qualitative empirical methods to study the relationship between law, poverty, and inequality. In this episode, Sara discusses her recent paper “Stealing (Identity) From the Poor.” Sara discusses why low-income individuals are particularly vulnerable to identity theft, why the existing regulatory regime around data breaches ignores the unique needs and circumstances of the poor, and how she would transform this regulatory regime by creating a new federal agency with field offices in all fifty states.
Sara’s Duke Law Profile: https://law.duke.edu/fac/ssgreene/
Sara’s Twitter: @SaraJSGreene
GFMC’s Twitter: @DukeGFMC
Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners
Related Links:
Stealing (Identity) From the Poor by Sara Greene
Credit Scoring Duality by Sara Greene
In this special look-back episode, Tim Swanson breaks down major developments in the cryptocurrency market in 2021. Tim is head of market intelligence at London-based blockchain company Clearmatics and is the founder and director of research at tech advisory firm Post Oak Labs.
Tim’s Twitter: @ofnumbers
GFMC’s Twitter: @DukeGFMC
Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners
The FinReg Blog: https://sites.law.duke.edu/thefinregblog/
Costas Stephanou and Matteo Aquilina from the Financial Stability Board (FSB) discuss the fragilities in the non-bank financial intermediation sector that were revealed in March 2020 with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the work of the FSB to address these risks. Non-bank financial intermediaries include money market mutual funds, other open-ended funds, asset managers, non-bank corporate bond dealers, and derivatives central counterparties. The sector was on the bring of collapse in March 2020 before central banks took extraordinary and unprecedented action.
Related Links
Enhancing the Resilience of Non-Bank Financial Intermediation: Progress report(November 2021)
Policy proposals to enhance money market fund resilience: Final report (October 2021)
Global Monitoring Report on Non-Bank Financial Intermediation 2020 (December 2020)
Holistic Review of the March Market Turmoil (November 2020)
Chris Giancarlo served as the thirteenth Chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. While leading the CFTC, Chris earned the nickname “CryptoDad” for his call on Congress to respect a new generation’s interest in cryptocurrency, an experience he details in his excellent new book “CryptoDad: The Fight for the Future of Money.” Chris is also the co-founder of the digital dollar project, which promotes research into a US central bank digital currency.
Chris’ Twitter: @giancarloMKTS
Related Links
- CryptoDad: The Fight for the Future of Money
CryptoDad: The Fight for the Future of Money: J. Christopher Giancarlo, Cameron Winklevoss, Tyler Winklevoss: 9781119855088: Amazon.com: Books
*The Digital Dollar Project
https://digitaldollarproject.org/
Laura Parisi is team lead at the European Central Bank Climate Change Center and Spyros Alogoskoufis is a financial stability and stress test expert at the European Central Bank. Together, they spearheaded the ECB’s economy-wide climate stress test which was released in September. The exercise tested the impact of climate change on more than four million firms worldwide and 1,600 Euro-area banks under three different climate policy scenarios.
Related Links
- ECB economy-wide climate stress test
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2021/html/ecb.pr210922~59ade4710b.en.html
*The ECB pledge on climate change action
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/scpops/ecb.op271~36775d43c8.en.pdf
Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners
GFMC Twitter: @DukeGFMC
Ari Redbord is the head of legal and government affairs for the blockchain intelligence firm, TRM Labs. Prior to joining TRM Labs, Ari held public sector roles involving cryptocurrency and national security at the Department of Justice and U.S. Department of the Treasury. In this episode, Ari discusses the first time he encountered cryptocurrency as a federal prosecutor, how crypto is being used to evade and undermine US economic sanctions, and how firms like TRM Labs can leverage public blockchains to trace illicit activity.
Ari Redbord’s Twitter: @ARedbord
TRM Labs Twitter: @TRMLabs
Related Links
*Ban Cryptocurrency to Fight Ransomware
https://www.wsj.com/articles/ban-cryptocurrency-to-fight-ransomware-11621962831
*Crypto Isn’t the Cause of Ransomware. It Might Be the Cure
https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2021/09/14/crypto-isnt-the-cause-of-ransomware-it-might-be-the-cure/
Winston Ma is the author of “The Digital War: How China's Tech Power Shapes the Future of AI, Blockchain and Cyberspace.” The book details the profound global implications as China's digital economy moves from a consumer-focused phase to an enterprise-oriented one, with a focus on the Internet of Things, AI, blockchain, cloud computing, and data analytics. In this episode, Winston discusses the rise of mobile payments in China, China’s crypto ban and digital yuan rollout, and the recent government crackdown on tech companies.
Winston’s Twitter: @Winston_W_Ma
Related Links
The Digital War: How China's Tech Power Shapes the Future of AI, Blockchain and Cyberspace: https://www.amazon.com/Digital-War-Chinas-Blockchain-Cyberspace/dp/1119748917
Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners
GFMC Twitter: @DukeGFMC
Liam Vaughan is a senior reporter with Bloomberg and Businessweek magazine in London. His article, ‘Most Americans Today Believe the Stock Market Is Rigged, and They’re Right,’ appeared on the October 4th cover of Bloomberg Businessweek. Liam is a returning guest to the podcast and joins Lee to discuss his new article that examines the disturbing behavior of US corporate executives that trade their companies’ stocks.
Liam’s Twitter: @liamvaughanBBG
Related Links
- Most Americans Today Believe the Stock Market Is Rigged, and They’re Right’: Is Stock Market Rigged? Insider Trading by Executives Is Pervasive, Critics Say - Bloomberg
Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners
GFMC Twitter: @DukeGFMC
Alicia Seiger is Managing Director of the Stanford University Sustainable Finance Initiative and Lynn Schenk is Director at the Business and Environment Initiative at Harvard Business School. They both served on the California Climate-Related Risk Disclosure Advisory Group. In this episode, Alicia and Lynn discuss the advisory group’s recent report, “Developing Climate Risk Disclosure Practices for the State of California.” The report offers 45 recommendations from 20 global experts to help California – already a leader on climate action – make even better budget, procurement, and investment decisions across its 262 billion dollar general operating budget and the 1 trillion dollar combined assets under management of its 3 largest pensions in light of the risks and opportunities imposed by climate change.
Alicia Seiger’s profile: https://law.stanford.edu/directory/alicia-seiger/
Alicia’s Twitter: @aaseiger
Lynn Schenk’s profile: https://www.hbs.edu/environment/about/Pages/profile-details.aspx?profile=lschenk
Related Links
- Developing Climate Risk Disclosure Practices for the State of California
https://www-cdn.law.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Developing-Climate-Risk-Disclosure-Practices-for-the-State-of-California.pdf
*Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures Recommendations
https://www.fsb-tcfd.org/recommendations/
Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners
GFMC Twitter: @DukeGFMC
Tariq Fancy is Founder and CEO of The Rumie Initiative and the former Chief Investment Officer for Sustainable Investing at BlackRock. His recent three-part series, “The Secret Diary of a Sustainable Investor”, argues that ESG/sustainable investing is intellectually bankrupt and is damaging to the most important causes it purports to support. Tariq joins The FinReg Pod to discuss how he went from an ESG evangelist to ESG critic and why the private sector is ill-equipped to address climate change on its own.
Tariq’s Twitter: @sosfancy
Rumie’s website: https://about.rumie.org/
Related Links:
The Secret Diary of a ‘Sustainable Investor’ — Part 1 https://medium.com/@sosofancy/the-secret-diary-of-a-sustainable-investor-part-1-70b6987fa139 The Secret Diary of a ‘Sustainable Investor’ — Part 2 https://medium.com/@sosofancy/the-secret-diary-of-a-sustainable-investor-part-2-831a25cb642d The Secret Diary of a ‘Sustainable Investor’ — Part 3 https://medium.com/@sosofancy/the-secret-diary-of-a-sustainable-investor-part-3-3c238cb0dcbf A Sense of Purpose, Larry Fink https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2018/01/17/a-sense-of-purpose/ Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation, Business Roundtable https://s3.amazonaws.com/brt.org/BRT-StatementonthePurposeofaCorporationJuly2021.pdf Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners
GFMC Twitter: @DukeGFMC
Pat Parkinson is a senior fellow at the Bank Policy Institute and project director for the Group of Thirty’s Working Group on Treasury Market Liquidity. In this episode, Pat discusses the Treasury market meltdown in March 2020 and the Group of Thirty’s recommendations to address key Treasury market fragilities. Specifically, Pat explains why the Federal Reserve’s standing repo facility, launched on July 28, 2021, is not sufficient to prevent future dysfunction in the Treasury market.
Pat’s BPI profile: https://bpi.com/people/pat-parkinson/
Related Links:
Enhancing Liquidity of the U.S. Treasury Market Under Stress by Nellie Liang and Pat Parkinson
https://www.brookings.edu/research/enhancing-liquidity-of-the-u-s-treasury-market-under-stress/
U.S. Treasury Markets: Steps Toward Increased Resilience by Group of Thirty
https://group30.org/images/uploads/publications/G30_U.S_._Treasury_Markets-_Steps_Toward_Increased_Resilience__1.pdf
Clearing a Path to a More Resilient Treasury Market by FIA Principal Traders Group
https://www.fia.org/sites/default/files/2021-07/FIA-PTG_Paper_Resilient%20Treasury%20Market_FINAL.pdf
Statement Regarding Repurchase Agreement Arrangements by Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20210728b.htm
US Treasuries: The Lessons from March’s Market Meltdown by Colby Smith and Robin Wigglesworth
https://www.ft.com/content/ea6f3104-eeec-466a-a082-76ae78d430fd
Global Financial Markets Center’s Twitter: @DukeGFMC
Mike Konczal is Director of Macroeconomic Analysis and Progressive Thought at the Roosevelt Institute. His recent article “Completing the Revolution in Macroeconomic Policy,” is part of a three-part series from Roosevelt Institute staff that lay out their agendas for the next Federal Reserve term across three different issues: corporate power, climate change, and macroeconomics. In this episode, Mike discusses the radical approach the Fed has taken to monetary policy under Chair Powell, the success of the Fed’s various pandemic related interventions, and Powell’s approach to inflation and monetary tightening. While Mike doesn’t explicitly endorse Powell for reappointment, his article and this interview make a strong case for Powell based upon his track record on full employment and a strong recovery.
Related Links:
Completing the Revolution in Macroeconomic Policy by Mike Konczal
https://rooseveltinstitute.org/2021/08/16/priorities-for-the-next-federal-reserve-chair-completing-the-revolution-in-macroeconomic-policy/
The Roosevelt Institute’s Priorities for the Next Federal Reserve Chair by Suzanne Kahn https://rooseveltinstitute.org/2021/08/16/roosevelt-institutes-priorities-for-the-next-federal-reserve-chair/
The Fed's Municipal Lending Failed Black Public-Sector Workers by Max Moran https://therevolvingdoorproject.org/the-feds-municipal-lending-failed-black-public-sector-workers/
Monetary Policy in the Time of COVI by Jerome Powell
https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/powell20210827a.htm
Mike’s Twitter: @rortybomb
Mike’s website: https://rooseveltinstitute.org/authors/mike-konczal/
Lee’s Twitter: @leereiners
GFMC Twitter: @DukeGFMC
Art Wilmarth is Professor Emeritus at The George Washington University Law School. In this episode, Art discusses his new paper “The Pandemic Crisis Shows that the World Remains Trapped in a 'Global Doom Loop' of Financial Instability, Rising Debt Levels, and Escalating Bailouts.” Art explains the consequences of the Federal Reserve’s backstop of the corporate bond market during the pandemic, what history tells us about the Fed’s ability to taper their quantitative easing program, and how the Fed’s support for shadow deposits like money market funds and commercial paper has fueled the rise of new shadow deposits like stablecoins.
House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee: “Quantitative easing: a dangerous addiction?”
Howell Jackson and Morgan Ricks: “Locating Stablecoins within the Regulatory Perimeter” Better Markets Releases Report: “Should Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell Be Reappointed?”
Congressman Mike Levin is one of the leading voices on climate policy in the U.S. Congress. He serves on the House Committee on Natural Resources as well as the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, and in this episode, he talks about the findings from the latest UN climate report, the climate provisions he would like to see in the proposed $3.5 trillion dollar budget reconciliation package, and what other government agencies can do to help address the climate crisis.
Congressman Levin references “Macroeconomic Consequences of the Infrastructure and Budget Reconciliation Plans” from Moody’s Analytics. That analysis is available here: macroeconomic-consequences-infrastructure.pdf (moodysanalytics.com)
Zach Neumann is the co-founder and executive director of the COVID-19 Eviction Defense Project in Denver, Colorado. Zach is also the co-author of a recent paper from the Aspen Institute titled “With Federal Moratorium Expiring, 15 million people at Risk of Eviction.” In this episode, Zach discusses the innovative model his organization developed to quickly disburse rental assistance funds, the challenges that states and local communities across the country have faced in distributing $46 billion in Congressionally appropriated rental assistance, and the steps state policymakers can take now to slow evictions and distribute rental assistance funds more quickly.
Check out Zach’s co-authored paper: “With Federal Moratorium Expiring, 15 Million People at Risk of Eviction” at https://www.aspeninstitute.org/publications/with-federal-moratorium-expiring-15-million-people-at-risk-of-eviction/
Also check out Zach’s co-authored paper from December: “Emerging Best Practices for COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Programs” at https://www.aspeninstitute.org/publications/emerging-best-practices-for-covid-19-emergency-rental-assistance-programs/
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is a cooperative effort among 11 northeastern and mid-Atlantic states to cap and reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the power sector. In this episode, RGGI Vice Chair and Maryland Secretary of the Environment, Ben Grumbles, breaks down RGGI’s origins and what it takes for states to join the initiative, the auction process to allocate emissions allowances, and the development of a robust secondary market where allowances are continuously traded
To learn more about RGGI and other carbon markets in the U.S. and Europe, check out a recording of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s June 3rd meeting of the Energy and Environmental Markets Advisory Committee here.
LIBOR has been called the world’s most important number, which is why getting the entire financial system to move away from LIBOR is such a herculean effort. In this episode, Manuel Frey and Jane O’Brien discuss the role of regulators in facilitating an orderly transition away from LIBOR, the strengths and weaknesses of regulators’ preferred alternative to LIBOR, and the potential for rival benchmarks to gain traction. Manuel is a partner at the law firm of Paul Weiss, where he focuses on a broad-based cross-border OTC derivatives, structured products and hedge fund practice. Jane is partner and co-deputy chair of the Securities Litigation and Enforcement Group at Paul Weiss. She advises financial institutions and other market participants with respect to managing risks associated with the anticipated cessation of LIBOR.
Thomas Vartanian is the author of the recently released book: 200 Years of American Financial Panics: Crashes, Recessions, Depressions, and the Technology that Will Change It All. In this episode, Vartanian reflects on his experience responding to the S&L crisis and how that informed his view on the role of government in contributing to financial risks, what lessons the government failed to learn from the 2008 crisis, and how he would reform our current regulatory structure by reducing the number of agencies involved. Vartanian concludes by talking about the vulnerabilities in our financial infrastructure.
President Biden plans to pay for his $2 trillion infrastructure package by raising corporate tax rates and imposing a global minimum tax of 21%. In this episode, Peter Barnes breaks down how a global minimum tax would work in practice and the challenges involved in negotiating an international tax agreement. Peter is a senior lecturing fellow at Duke Law and the Duke Center for International Development as well as of counsel at Washington DC Law Firm Caplin and Drysdale. Peter spent over twenty years as senior international tax counsel at General Electric and prior to GE, Peter worked in the Office of Tax Policy at the U.S. Treasury Department.
Investor Bill Hwang set off a storm in the stock market in March when his firm, Archegos Capital Management, and its banks, began liquidating huge positions in blue-chip companies that left their counterparties with $10bn in losses. In this episode, Duke Law professors Gina-Gail Fletcher, Elisabeth de Fontenay, Jim Cox, Lee Reiners, and Lawrence Baxter explain why Archegos failed, who got hurt, and what should be done about it.
Financial services regulatory reform will continue to be active these next three plus years, with the Biden administration focused on activity at the intersection of financial regulation and social policy. However, the pace and tenor of change under the Biden administration will be heavily influenced by the leadership of and senior personnel at the federal prudential and market regulators. In this episode, Duke Law professors Sarah Bloom Raskin, Gina-Gail Fletcher, Elisabeth de Fontenay, Jim Cox, and Lawrence Baxter break down what we might expect for financial regulation under the Biden administration.
For 18 years, Kerry Killinger was CEO of Washington Mutual - a lender in the Pacific Northwest that he grew into the sixth largest bank in the country prior to its collapse in September of 2008. Kerry, along with his wife Linda, recently published “Nothing is Too Big to Fail: How the Last Financial Crisis Informs Today.” In this episode, the Killingers discuss why they believe Jamie Dimon and JPMorgan Chase schemed behind the scenes to get the FDIC to seize WaMu, why Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson wanted to eliminate the thrift industry, and what post-crisis assessments of WaMu’s collapse by the U.S. Senate and others got wrong.
Want to contact the show? Reach out at reiners@law.duke.edu
Interested in learning more about issues in financial regulation and policy? Check out the Global Financial Markets Center’s blog, The FinReg Blog.
You can learn more about the Global Financial Markets Center by visiting our website: https://law.duke.edu/globalfinancialmarkets/
While the pandemic has devastated minority communities, a small handful of wealthy, billionaire landlords are cashing in to the tune of millions. In this episode, Sara Myklebust from Georgetown University’s Kalmanovitz Initiative and Patrick Woodall from Americans for Financial Reform discuss the findings from their new report: “Cashing in Our Homes.” The report, produced by Bargaining for the Common Good, the Institute for Policy Studies, and the Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund, details how a handful of billionaires and corporate landlords have seen the pandemic as an opportunity to cash in on hard times.
Access the report at: https://ips-dc.org/cashing-in-on-our-homes/
At $1.9 trillion dollars, the recently signed American Rescue Plan is the largest spending bill in U.S. history and it provides much needed direct relief to millions of Americans who have been struggling for over a year while Covid-19 wreaked havoc on our health and our economy. In this episode, Vanguard's global chief economist, Joe Davis, talks about the impact certain provisions in the stimulus bill will have on those in need and the broader economy, the potential for inflation to finally rear its head, and what he would like to see included in an upcoming infrastructure package.
Want to contact the show? Reach out at reiners@law.duke.edu
Interested in learning more about issues in financial regulation and policy? Check out the Global Financial Markets Center’s blog, The FinReg Blog.
You can learn more about the Global Financial Markets Center by visiting our website: https://law.duke.edu/globalfinancialmarkets/
David Berger is a partner at Wilson Sonsini in Silicon Valley, where he specializes in corporate governance and M&A litigation as well as rapid response shareholder activism. More importantly for this conversation, David served on the Commission responsible for developing the Framework for Inclusive Capitalism which was released in February. David spoke about how the Commission came together and some of the framework’s key recommendations as well as the detrimental effects of shareholder primacy, a topic David has written extensively about and which is reflected in the framework’s recommendations to give workers a greater say in how corporations are run.
Read the Framework for Inclusive Capitalism here: https://www.coalitionforinclusivecapitalism.com/workers/
The recent GameStop fiasco has given new momentum to the concept of a financial transactions tax. In this episode, Lenore Palladino explains why we need a financial transactions tax and sheds insights on recent state and federal proposals to tax financial transactions. Lenore is an assistant professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst as well as a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute. Last month, Lenore wrote an article in The Appeal titled “The Case for the financial transaction tax in 2021.”
Ant Group, operator of Chinese payment behemoth Alipay, was set to have the largest IPO in history last November before Chinese regulators suddenly pulled the plug. In this episode, Martin Chorzempa from the Peterson Institute for International Economics, talks about the Chinese government’s response to the emergence of fintech, the evolution of Ant’s business model in recent years, what Ant’s scuttled IPO means for other fintech firms going forward, and the status of China’s proposed central bank digital currency.
Show notes
China, the United States, and central bank digital currencies: how important is it to be first?
GameStop has captured the public’s imagination in a way no other finance-related story has since the financial crisis. In this special double episode, we cover GameStop and its broader implications from all angles. In part one, Ty Gellasch discusses the potential legal liability some of the folks on Reddit’s Wall Street Bets forum may be facing, the issues around clearing and settlement as well as payment for order flow, and what GameStop means for an already crowded SEC agenda under President Biden. Ty is the executive director of Healthy Markets Association and a nonresident fellow at the Global Financial Markets Center. In part two, you’ll hear the audio from a live virtual event that features several Duke Law faculty members discussing what happened with GameStop and RobinHood and answering student questions. If you’re less familiar with the details on what happened with GameStop, you may want to skip ahead and first listen to the faculty discussion.
Jeff Naimon and Sasha Leonhardt from Buckley LLP break down the likely course of consumer financial regulation under the Biden administration. In this episode they spoke about President Biden’s nominee to lead the CFPB, what the Bureau’s priorities are likely to be in the short and long-term, and what it’s like for financial services firms to have to deal with dramatic swings in consumer financial enforcement and regulation every time the presidency changes hands.
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies, or SPACs, have become one of the hottest things in finance over the past year. In this episode, Shami Patel talks about why SPACs have become an attractive option for private companies that want to go public, how a typical SPAC is structured, and his thoughts on some of the more common SPAC critiques. Shami has worked on multiple fintech focused SPACs during his career, including his current role as chief operating officer at Ftac Olympus Acquisition Corporation.
Liam Vaughan discusses the incredible story of how the price of oil went to negative $38 per barrel on April 20th, 2020 and the tight knit crew of suburban London traders who made a king’s ransom when it did. Liam is a senior reporter with Bloomberg and Businessweek magazine in London. His December 10th article in Businessweek, co-written with Kit Chellel and Benjamin Bain, is tilted “The Essex Boys: How Nine Traders Hit a Gusher With Negative Oil.”
The Essex Boys: How Nine Traders Hit a Gusher With Negative Oil
2020 was a critical year in the continued expansion of the cryptocurrency market and not just because the year ended with Bitcoin’s price at an all-time high of close to $30,000. In this episode, Tim Swanson breaks down major developments in the cryptocurrency market over the past year; from the rise of stablecoins and central bank digital currencies, to regulatory crackdowns on crypto firms. Tim is head of market intelligence at London-based blockchain company Clearmatics and is the founder and director of research at tech advisory firm Post Oak Labs.
Parasitic stablecoins | Great Wall of Numbers
The Anatomy of a Money-like Informational Commodity: A Study of Bitcoin
Terri Friedline is an associate professor at the University of Michigan School of Social Work and author of the recently released book: Banking on a Revolution: Why Financial Technology Won’t Save a Broken System. The book examines how the existing financial system discriminates against the poor and people of color, and makes the case for a new, revolutionized financial system that centers the needs, experiences, and perspectives of those it has historically excluded, marginalized, and exploited. In this episode, Terri discusses how social workers can play a role in changing the financial system, the problems with traditional credit scores, how fintech, despite its claims, doesn’t automatically improve financial inclusion, and so much more.
Congress passed the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) in 1977 to encourage depository institutions to meet the credit needs of lower income neighborhoods. The last major changes to the regulations implementing CRA came in 1995, which has led to no shortage of calls to modernize CRA for our digital era. In this episode, Jesse Van Tol, CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, offers his thoughts on recent regulatory proposals to modernize CRA and what the final outcome is likely to be under a Biden Administration.
Jesse Hamilton McCoy II is the James Scott Farrin Lecturing Fellow at Duke Law and supervising attorney for the Duke Law Civil Justice Clinic. Jesse also runs the Durham County eviction diversion program in partnership with Legal Aid of North Carolina and the Durham County Department of Social Services. In this episode, Jesse discusses the impact of various state and federal eviction moratoria on his clients and what needs to be done in order to prevent evicting millions of Americans in the midst of a pandemic that is only getting worse.
Art Wilmarth is Professor Emeritus at The George Washington University Law School and author of Taming the Megabanks: Why We Need a New Glass-Steagall Act. The book traces the evolution of the US banking sector from the late 19th century to today, and demonstrates that universal banks were at the center of the great Depression and the Great Recession of 2007-09. In this episode, Art makes the case for reestablishing a clear structural separation between banks and the capital markets and for prohibiting nonbanks from issuing short-term financial claims, like money market mutual funds, that function as deposit substitutes.
Bob Litterman is chairman of the Risk Committee and a founding partner at Kepos Capital. Bob was also the chairman of the CFTC’s Climate-Related Market Risk Subcommittee which last month released a comprehensive report that identifies climate change as a systemic risk to the U.S. financial system and presents 53 detailed policy recommendations, the first of which is the need for an economy wide price on carbon. In this episode Bob talks about his background in risk management, how he got interested in climate change, and the incentives that are needed to transition to a net-zero emissions economy.
Climate Risk Disclosure Lab Report: https://climatedisclosurelab.duke.edu/2020/10/climate-risk-disclosure-lab-report/
CFTC Report: https://www.cftc.gov/sites/default/files/2020-09/9-9-20%20Report%20of%20the%20Subcommittee%20on%20Climate-Related%20Market%20Risk%20-%20Managing%20Climate%20Risk%20in%20the%20U.S.%20Financial%20System%20for%20posting.pdf
Dick Kovacevich was CEO of Wells Fargo from 1998 until 2007, during which time he built the company into a banking powerhouse. Dick’s relentless focus on selling Wells Fargo’s customers as many products as possible is what made Wells such a widely admired company, but it also sowed the seeds of Wells Fargo's later problems. In this episode Dick discusses his philosophy of banking and the fake account scandal that became national news in 2016 with Lee Reiners and special co-host Patrick Rucker from The Capitol Forum.
Notes:
29:11 - Wells Fargo more like Home Depot than Goldman Sachs.
37:20 - Telling managers that he was disappointed in sales numbers.
55:47 - Attrition loss of customers employees
1:05:57 - What would he say to the employees who were fired
1:14:59 - Discusses whether executives should go to jail
1:18:00 - Discusses continuing to work at the bank
Climate change poses a "slow motion" systemic threat to the stability of the U.S. financial system requiring urgent action from financial regulators, including the Federal Reserve and the Securities Exchange Commission. That is one of the findings of a recently released landmark report commissioned by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and put together by a panel convened about 10 months ago by CFTC Commissioner Rostin Behnam. In this episode Commissioner Behnam discusses the report's recommendations and next steps with Duke Law professor Sarah Bloom Raskin.
Report: https://www.cftc.gov/sites/default/files/2020-09/9-9-20%20Report%20of%20the%20Subcommittee%20on%20Climate-Related%20Market%20Risk%20-%20Managing%20Climate%20Risk%20in%20the%20U.S.%20Financial%20System%20for%20posting.pdf
Richard Cordray served as the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). His new book, "Watchdog: How Protecting Consumers Can Save Our Families, Our Economy, and Our Democracy," shows how the Bureau quickly became a powerful force for good, suing big banks for cheating or deceiving consumers, putting limits on predatory lenders, simplifying mortgage paperwork, and stepping in to help solve problems raised by individual consumers. On this episode, Rich shares insights from his book and offers his thoughts on the Supreme Court's Seila Law decision.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/06/29/why-cfpbs-loss-supreme-court-is-really-win/
https://medium.com/@RichCordray/cfpbwhitepaper-193a5aed0d75
Rodney Hood is the first African-American to lead a federal banking regulatory agency, the National Credit Union Administration-the independent agency that oversees the nation's federally insured credit unions. Since entering the role last year, Chairman Hood has focused on building and reinforcing places that have fallen behind, often in areas where opportunity is limited, like hard-pressed urban neighborhoods and rural communities fighting decline. In this episode, Chairman Hood offers his thoughts on how financial regulators can make inclusion a major priority in the financial industry and what financial institutions can do to promote financial inclusion and opportunities in underserved communities.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-banks-can-help-america-heal-11591311103
Want to contact the show? Reach out at reiners@law.duke.edu
Interested in learning more about issues in financial regulation and policy? Check out the Global Financial Markets Center’s blog, The FinReg Blog.
Jim Sills, CEO and President of M&F Bank in Durham, North Carolina, joins us to discuss the role of Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs), the challenges they are facing during the pandemic, and the opportunities presented by a renewed focus on supporting black owned banks in the wake of George Floyd’s death. M&F Bank was founded in 1907 by a group of nine successful African American businessmen in Durham in a thriving district that came to be known as Black Wall Street. Today, M&F Bank is a $265 million asset state-chartered bank with over 70 employees and serving the five largest urban markets in North Carolina: Charlotte, Durham, Greensboro, Winston Salem and Raleigh.
Want to contact the show? Reach out at reiners@law.duke.edu
Interested in learning more about issues in financial regulation and policy? Check out the Global Financial Markets Center’s blog, The FinReg Blog.
In this episode, Liam Vaughan discusses his new book: “Flash Crash: A Trading Savant, a Global Manhunt, and the Most Mysterious Market Crash in History.” The Flash Crash occurred on May 6th, 2010, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged roughly 9% in a matter of minutes only to recover a large part of the loss within half-an-hour. Liam’s book is a fascinating account of how the U.S. government, well after releasing their official report on the causes of the Flash Crash, came to pin much of the blame for that day’s events on a sole trader trading out of his parents’ house in London. Liam is a senior reporter with Bloomberg and Businessweek magazine in London and can be followed on Twitter @liamvaughanBBG.
Flash Crash: A Trading Savant, a Global Manhunt, and the Most Mysterious Market Crash in History
https://www.amazon.com/Flash-Crash-Trading-Manhunt-Mysterious/dp/0385543654/ref=sr_1_1?crid=HPQJ0R9385FM&dchild=1&keywords=flash+crash+liam+vaughan&qid=1594860947&sprefix=flash+crash%2Caps%2C160&sr=8-1
Want to contact the show? Reach out at reiners@law.duke.edu
Interested in learning more about issues in financial regulation and policy? Check out the Global Financial Markets Center’s blog, The FinReg Blog.
On Thursday, June 25th, the Federal Reserve released the results of its annual bank stress testing exercise. Due to the ongoing pandemic and the economic recession it has caused, there was added attention on this year’s results.
In this episode, Greg Gelzinis explains what the stress tests do and do not reveal, and what risks remain to the banking sector. Gregg is a senior policy analyst for Economic Policy at the Center American Progress, where he focuses on financial institutions, financial markets, and consumer finance policy.
Resources:
Bank Capital and the Coronavirus Crisis 4 Ways the Federal Reserve Can Improve the Resilience of the Banking System
https://cdn.americanprogress.org/content/uploads/2020/05/07111724/Banking-Capital.pdf
Are we seeing the demise of stress testing
From https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2020/06/25/stress-testing/
Federal Reserve Board releases results of stress tests for 2020 and additional sensitivity analyses conducted in light of the coronavirus event
https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/bcreg20200625c.htm
Want to contact the show? Reach out at reiners@law.duke.edu
Interested in learning more about issues in financial regulation and policy? Check out the Global Financial Markets Center’s blog, The FinReg Blog.
The coronavirus pandemic has upended American capitalism and forced the federal government to spend unprecedented sums of money to support struggling consumers and businesses. Thus far, Congress has enacted four separate pieces of legislation, costing approximately $2.4 trillion, with many arguing that more is needed to prevent Great Depression levels of unemployment and reduced economic activity.
In this episode, Vanguard's global chief economist, Joe Davis, talks about the efficacy of the fiscal policy response to date and what more can, and should, be done. Joe also discussed the Federal Reserve’s actions and his view on negative interest rates.
You can find Joe’s recent blog post on the employment retention tax credit here: https://vanguardinstitutionalblog.com/2020/06/02/a-third-line-of-defense-for-the-u-s-economy/
Want to contact the show? Reach out at reiners@law.duke.edu
Interested in learning more about issues in financial regulation and policy? Check out the Global Financial Markets Center’s blog, The FinReg Blog.
You can learn more about the Global Financial Markets Center by visiting our website: https://law.duke.edu/globalfinancialmarkets/
The country’s response to COVID-19 has constrained economic activity, dramatically reducing or eliminating the income of millions of workers. With enactment of the CARES Act, homeowners with Federally-backed mortgage loans (backed or owned by HUD, FHA, VA, USDA, Freddie Mac, or Fannie Mae) are entitled to up to six months of payment forbearance, which may be extended up to a year, upon a simple attestation of financial hardship.
In this episode, Ed DeMarco, president of the Housing Policy Council, talks about the current stresses our nation’s housing finance system is facing and the impact the CARES Act forbearance plan is having on mortgage servicers, particularly nonbank servicers. From 2009 to 2014, DeMarco was acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), where he served as the conservator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and regulator of those companies and the Federal Home Loan Banks. In this episode DeMarco also talks about the future of Fannie and Freddie and the challenges associated with being both the conservator and regulator of these entities.
You can find DeMarco's paper here:
https://fbb0ab68-1668-4db6-9365-051035190b71.filesusr.com/ugd/d315af_a9255256f817428a9554020300ed0299.pdf
Want to contact the show? Reach out at reiners@law.duke.edu
Interested in learning more about issues in financial regulation and policy? Check out the Global Financial Markets Center’s blog, The FinReg Blog.
You can learn more about the Global Financial Markets Center by visiting our website: https://law.duke.edu/globalfinancialmarkets/
A key feature of the recently passed $2 trillion stimulus package, also known as the CARES act, is the Paycheck Protection Program, which is a Small Business Administration (SBA) fully guaranteed loan program designed to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on the payroll. The program launched April 3rd and has received a lot of attention due to its perceived sloppy rollout and the incredible demand for these loans from America’s struggling small businesses.
In this episode, Greg Seward, General Counsel of Wilmington, North Carolina based LiveOak Bank, talks about how the Paycheck Protection Program is working in practice and some of the challenges banks like his are having in meeting the demand for these loans. LiveOak is the largest SBA lender in the country and Greg has been consulting with the SBA and other lenders as they struggle to help support America’s small businesses during the pandemic.
Want to contact the show? Reach out at reiners@law.duke.edu
Interested in learning more about issues in financial regulation and policy? Check out the Global Financial Markets Center’s blog, The FinReg Blog.
You can learn more about the Global Financial Markets Center by visiting our website: https://law.duke.edu/globalfinancialmarkets/
The coronavirus pandemic has upended American capitalism and forced the Federal Reserve to take drastic steps to keep money flowing throughout the financial system. The Fed has dusted off its 2007-09 financial crisis playbook and expanded it with unprecedented lending facilities that target corporate America directly. What is the purpose of these programs, how do they work, and what tools remain in the Fed’s toolbox to help aid the economy during these unprecedented times? A conversation featuring former Deputy Treasury Secretary and Federal Reserve Board Governor, Sarah Bloom Raskin; Global Financial Markets Center faculty director, Lawrence Baxter, and Global Financial Markets Center executive director, Lee Reiners.
Want to contact the show? Reach out at reiners@law.duke.edu
Interested in learning more about issues in financial regulation and policy? Check out the Global Financial Markets Center’s blog, The FinReg Blog.
You can learn more about the Global Financial Markets Center by visiting our website: https://law.duke.edu/globalfinancialmarkets/
Ty Gellasch is executive director of Healthy Markets Association, an investor-focused non-profit coalition that was founded on the premise that investors need independent information and analysis of market structure. In this episode, Ty discusses the rise of numerous for-profit securities exchanges, the role of high-frequency trading, and the ability of regulators to understand what’s going on in securities markets at any given moment.
Want to contact the show? Reach out at reiners@law.duke.edu
Interested in learning more about issues in financial regulation and policy? Check out the Global Financial Markets Center’s blog, The FinReg Blog.
You can learn more about the Global Financial Markets Center by visiting our website: https://law.duke.edu/globalfinancialmarkets/
Sarah Quinn, an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Washington, and author of: "American Bonds: How Credit Markets Shaped a Nation," talks about the long history of the US government’s use of credit allocation as a tool of statecraft. Giving us insight into her book, Quinn shows that since the Westward expansion, the U.S. government has used financial markets to manage America’s complex social divides, and politicians and officials across the political spectrum have turned to land sales, homeownership, and credit to provide economic opportunity without the appearance of market intervention or direct wealth redistribution.
Check out the links below for more info on Sarah Quinn and a link to her book!
https://soc.washington.edu/people/sarah-quinn
https://www.amazon.com/American-Bonds-International-Comparative-Perspectives/dp/0691156751
Want to contact the show? Reach out at reiners@law.duke.edu
Interested in learning more about issues in financial regulation and policy? Check out the Global Financial Markets Center’s blog, The FinReg Blog.
You can learn more about the Global Financial Markets Center by visiting our website: https://law.duke.edu/globalfinancialmarkets/
Ryan Clements, assistant professor at the University of Calgary Law School, discusses his doctoral research on how Exchange Traded Funds may contribute to financial market instability. Ryan acknowledges the fact that ETFs have made the average investor immeasurably better off by providing low-cost diversification, but his research has shed light on what is a classic tragedy of the commons problem, whereby what is rational for individual investors could weaken the market as a whole. Clements also talks about how the growth in ETFs has led to investor herding behavior, and how this may be contributing to market inefficiencies.
Check out the following articles for more information:
New Funds, Familiar Fears: Do Exchange Traded Funds Make Markets Less Stable? Part I, Liquidity Illusions by Ryan Clements https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3343976
New Funds, Familiar Fears: Are Exchange Traded Funds Making Markets Less Stable? Part II – Interaction Risks by Ryan Clements https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3486027
The Hidden Dangers of the Great Index Fund Takeover by David McLaughlin and Annie Massa https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-01-09/the-hidden-dangers-of-the-great-index-fund-takeover
Want to contact the show? Reach out at reiners@law.duke.edu
Interested in learning more about issues in financial regulation and policy? Check out the Global Financial Markets Center’s blog, The FinReg Blog.
You can learn more about the Global Financial Markets Center by visiting our website: https://law.duke.edu/globalfinancialmarkets/
Bill Coen, former Secretary General of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, discusses his experience on the Basel Committee as he led the effort to develop and define the Committee's strategy with the ultimate objective of reaching consensus on global guidelines, standards, and best practices. As Secretary General and career at the Basel Committee, Bill played an instrumental role in reshaping the regulation of the global financial system, particularly after the global financial crisis. Bill also highlights some of the critiques on the Basel Committee.
Want to contact the show? Email reiners@law.duke.edu
Interested in learning more about issues in financial regulation and policy? Check out the Global Financial Markets Center’s blog: https://sites.duke.edu/thefinregblog/
You can learn more about the Global Financial Markets Center by visiting our website: https://law.duke.edu/globalfinancialmarkets/
Rostin Behnam, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Commissioner, and Sarah Bloom Raskin, former Deputy Treasury Secretary and Federal Reserve Board Governor, speak about the risks that climate change poses to the stability of our financial system. In the US, central bankers and financial regulators have been slow to adopt an understanding of the detrimental impacts of climate change, but Commissioner Behnam is attempting to change that. This episode is a fascinating conversation about a topic that is unfortunately only growing in prominence as we continue to see more and more severe weather events. Want to contact the show? Email reiners@law.duke.edu Interested in learning more about issues in financial regulation and policy? Check out the Global Financial Markets Center’s blog: https://sites.duke.edu/thefinregblog/ You can learn more about the Global Financial Markets Center by visiting our website: https://law.duke.edu/globalfinancialmarkets/
Ben Lawsky, CEO of the Lawsky Group and the former New York State Superintendent of Financial Services, talks about his experience creating the New York BitLicense, a first-of-its-kind state licensing regime for the virtual currency industry with The FinReg Pod host, Lee Reiners.
Want to contact the show? Email reiners@law.duke.edu
Interested in learning more about issues in financial regulation and policy? Check out the Global Financial Markets Center’s blog: https://sites.duke.edu/thefinregblog/
You can learn more about the Global Financial Markets Center by visiting our website: https://law.duke.edu/globalfinancialmarkets/
Aaron Klein addresses the costs of America’s slow and antiquated payment system and its contribution to economic inequality with The FinReg Pod host Lee Reiners. Klein is a fellow in Economic Studies and policy director of the Center on Regulation and Markets at the Brookings Institution. He focuses on financial regulation and technology, macroeconomics, and infrastructure finance and policy.
For more on this topic, check out these articles written by Aaron Klein:
Real-time payments can help combat inequality: https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/real-time-payments-can-help-combat-inequality/
The fastest way to address income inequality? Implement a real-time payment system: https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-fastest-way-to-address-income-inequality-implement-a-real-time-payment-system/
Want to contact the show? Reach out to reiners@law.duke.edu
Interested in learning more about issues in financial regulation and policy? Check out the Global Financial Markets Center’s blog: https://sites.duke.edu/thefinregblog/
You can learn more about the Global Financial Markets Center by visiting our website: https://law.duke.edu/globalfinancialmarkets/
Part 2 of Joe Smith talking about his role as court appointed monitor of the National Mortgage Settlement in the wake of the global financial crisis with The FinReg Pod host Reiners. Smith is currently a partner at Poyner Spruill and a fellow at the Global Financial Markets Center. From 2002 to 2012, Joe served as North Carolina Commissioner of Banks, before taking on his role as monitor.
A Review and Assessment of the National Mortgage Settlement by Its Monitor by Joseph A. Smith Jr: https://scholarship.law.unc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1430&context=ncbi
National Mortgage Settlements Digital Archive: https://scholarship.law.unc.edu/mortgage-settlements
Want to contact the show? Reach out at reiners@law.duke.edu
Interested in learning more about issues in financial regulation and policy? Check out the Global Financial Markets Center’s blog, The FinReg Blog.
You can learn more about the Global Financial Markets Center by visiting our website: https://law.duke.edu/globalfinancialmarkets/
Part 1 of Joe Smith talking about his role as court appointed monitor of the National Mortgage Settlement in the wake of the global financial crisis with The FinReg Pod host Lee Reiners. Smith is currently a partner at Poyner Spruill and a fellow at the Global Financial Markets Center. From 2002 to 2012, Joe served as North Carolina Commissioner of Banks, before taking on his role as monitor.
A Review and Assessment of the National Mortgage Settlement by Its Monitor by Joseph A. Smith Jr.:https://scholarship.law.unc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1430&context=ncbi
National Mortgage Settlements Digital Archive: https://scholarship.law.unc.edu/mortgage-settlements
Want to contact the show? Reach out at reiners@law.duke.edu
Interested in learning more about issues in financial regulation and policy? Check out the Global Financial Markets Center’s blog, The FinReg Blog.
You can learn more about the Global Financial Markets Center by visiting our website: https://law.duke.edu/globalfinancialmarkets/