The financial analyst who rose to fame for her bearish calls on banks ahead of the financial crisis, sees more bad news ahead, predicting that banks will close 5% of their branch offices over the next year and a half.
Ireland headed into a confrontation Tuesday with leaders of the European Union and other struggling members of the eurozone on whether to seek a financial bailout as jitters continued to disrupt the continent's financial markets.
The so-called Basel III reforms impose new rules for capital reserves that the world's banks would have to keep on hand as a cushion to avert future financial meltdowns. The G20 nations are expected to ratify the agreement at their meeting in November.
The banks are hoarding, not lending, the money the government has put into the monetary system to get the economy going again. Why not just bypass the risk-averse old banks and start new banks that have no reason not to lend?
Nearly two years after the U.S. banking system imploded, House Democrats passed a financial regulatory reform bill intended to avoid the calamity's recurrence. The Senate delayed action on the bill as Dems try to muster the needed votes.
Obama wants European governments to keep spending to stave off an economic slowdown. Europe, particularly Germany, doesn't want to hear about it. Expect a fractious debate at the Toronto summit meeting of G-20 industrial countries this weekend.
One of the key questions facing Congress as it labors to reconcile the House and Senate bills is this: Three years after the financial crisis began, how much risk should America's banks be allowed to take? Not surprisingly, opinions differ greatly.
The financial crisis that started with overly indebted Greece is spreading rapidly to engulf Spain, Portugal, and European Union banks. The world may need a TARP-like rescue effort to contain Europe's contagion.
