US Politics in Trump era
Using Coronavirus, GOP Wins Long-Desired Bank Deregulation
Republican lawmakers and finance industry lobbyists are using the coronavirus pandemic to press regulators into rapidly waiving financial safeguards for community banks. And so far, banking regulators have obliged, lifting rules imposed after the 2008 crisis that limit risk-taking and require banks to undergo more strenuous audits.
Deutsche Bank Might Have Destroyed Physical Copies of Trump’s Tax Returns, Cleansed Servers, Claims Former Executive
A former Deutsche Bank executive who reviewed President Donald Trump's tax returns reportedly said it is "not normal" that the institution no longer holds copies of those records.Trump for many years relied on Deutsche Bank for loans to sustain his real estate business when many other institutions would not lend to him because of his rocky financial history.The president is accused by some, including his former attorney Michael Cohen, of manipulating the value of his assets to either secure finance or reduce his tax bill.
Regulators Move to Ease Post-Crisis Oversight of Wall Street
Federal regulators moved on Wednesday to ease oversight of the country’s largest banks and other financial firms, continuing a push by the Trump administration to reverse rules that were put in place following the 2008 financial crisis.The Federal Reserve said it would adjust the structure of its annual “stress tests,” which measure the ability of leading banks to withstand a potential economic or financial storm. The changes are likely to make it easier for banks to get regulatory approval to pay higher dividends or buy back their own shares.
Banking leak exposes Russian network with link to Prince Charles
A charity run by Prince Charles received donations from an offshore company that was used to funnel vast amounts of cash from Russia in a scheme that is under investigation by prosecutors, the Guardian can reveal. Money flowing through the network included cash that can be linked to some of the most notorious frauds committed during Vladimir Putin’s presidency.
US banks on back foot as global rivals charge into China
European and Japanese financial institutions are breaking new ground in the Chinese market as U.S. competitors take a back seat due to tensions over trade and intellectual property practices.Although China relaxed rules on majority foreign stakes in its financial sector last year, with full ownership taking effect after 2021, authorities there have yet to grant such approval for U.S. banks' joint ventures.
New Bank Law Is Already Making Banks Bigger
The proposed $28 billion merger announced Thursday between large regional banks SunTrust and BB&T is the biggest banking tie-up since the financial crisis, creating what would become the nation’s sixth-largest bank. And it’s a direct result of actions taken by the Trump administration and the bipartisan group of lawmakers who passed a bank deregulation bill in 2018.
Banks’ $21 Billion Tax Windfall Doesn’t Stop Their Job Cuts
Major U.S. banks shaved about $21 billion from their tax bills last year -- almost double the IRS’s annual budget -- as the industry benefited more than many others from the Republican tax overhaul.By year-end, most of the nation’s largest lenders met or exceeded their initial predictions for tax savings.
Goldman Sachs Ensnarled in Vast 1MDB Fraud Scandal
Wall Street Loves These Risky Loans. The Rest of Us Should Be Wary.
A financial assembly line that went haywire a decade ago and contributed to an economic crisis is gearing up again on Wall Street. This time around, a similar kind of investment, called C.L.O.s, are at the heart of the boom. And that’s not the only parallel: The loans are being made to risky borrowers, lending standards are dropping fast, and regulators are easing the rules.
Justice Anthony Kennedy’s son led Deutsche Bank as it loaned Trump over $1 billion
Senate passes rollback of banking rules enacted after financial crisis
Trump Administration Waives Punishment For Convicted Banks, Including Deutsche — Which Trump Owes Millions
The Trump administration has waived part of the punishment for five megabanks whose affiliates were convicted and fined for manipulating global interest rates. One of the Trump administration waivers was granted to Deutsche Bank — which is owed at least $130 million by President Donald Trump and his business empire, and has also been fined for its role in a Russian money laundering scheme.
The Senate Is Getting Ready to Erode Obama’s Landmark Wall Street Law
On Monday, the Senate Banking Committee announced that it struck a rare bipartisan deal to deregulate banks. The deal would gut several of the protections enacted in 2010 in response to the financial crisis as part of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, most notably a key rule requiring that “Too Big To Fail” banks—those with more than $50 billion in assets—undergo stricter oversight.
U.S. Agency Moves to Allow Class-Action Lawsuits Against Financial Firms
The nation’s consumer watchdog is adopting a rule on Monday that would pry open the courtroom doors for millions of Americans, restoring their right to bring class-action lawsuits against financial firms. Under the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule, banks and credit card companies could no longer force customers into arbitration and block them from banding together to file a class-action suit. The change would deal a serious blow to Wall Street and could wind up costing financial firms billions of dollars.
Trump Jr. Now Tied To Banker Behind Russian Money Laundering Scheme
Steven Mnuchin Goes Through the Looking Glass-Steagall in Strange Exchange With Elizabeth Warren
Sen. Elizabeth Warren had a confounding exchange with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin at a Senate Banking Committee hearing today. Mnuchin indicated that the Trump administration supports a 21st century version of the Glass-Steagall Act, except for the part about separating commercial and investment banks, which is substantially what is meant by Glass-Steagall.
Leashes Come Off Wall Street, Gun Sellers, Miners and More
In a flurry of deregulation, the Trump administration has already suspended or reversed more than 90 rules. And industry is clamoring for more. Telecommunications giants like Verizon and AT&T will not have to take “reasonable measures” to ensure that their customers’ Social Security numbers, web browsing history and other personal information are not stolen or accidentally released.Wall Street banks like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase will not be punished, at least for now, for not collecting extra money from customers to cover potential losses from certain kinds of high-risk trades that helped unleash the 2008 financial crisis.
Trump Presidency Could Be Worth $14 Billion to His Troubled Lender
Donald Trump’s election has likely given a massive lifeline to Deutsche Bank, the German financial firm that has been rocked recently by rumors that they would have to pay a $14 billion fine to the Justice Department over crisis-related mortgage abuses. That money is unlikely to ever be imposed, now that one of Deutsche Bank’s biggest borrowers – Trump – will soon be sitting in the White House.
Leaked Deutsche Bank Speech Shows Clinton Asking Wall Street To Police Itself, Supporting US Pivot To Asia
Aide Planted Anti-Bank Comments in One Paid Clinton Speech to Throw Reporters Off the Scent
A top aide calculatingly inserted a passage critical of the financial industry into one of Hillary Clinton’s many highly-paid speeches to big banks, “precisely for the purpose of having something we could show people if ever asked what she was saying behind closed doors for two years to all those fat cats,” he wrote in an email posted by Wikileaks.
Excerpts of Hillary Clinton’s Paid Speeches to Goldman Sachs Finally Leaked
Elizabeth Warren Asks Newly Chatty FBI Director to Explain Why DOJ Didn’t Prosecute Banksters
Like many Americans, Sen. Elizabeth Warren wants to know why the DOJ hasn't criminally prosecuted anyone responsible for the 2008 financial crisis. On Thursday, Warren released two highly provocative letters demanding some explanations. One is to DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz, requesting a review of how federal law enforcement managed to whiff on all 11 substantive criminal referrals submitted by the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC), a panel set up to examine the causes of the 2008 meltdown
Hillary’s Choice: Why Tim Kaine Isn’t a ‘Safe’ Pick
Tim Kaine, Possible Hillary Clinton Pick for Vice President, Goes to Bat for Banks
Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, a leading candidate for the Democratic nominee for vice president, has signaled to the financial industry that he’ll go to bat for them. On Monday, Kaine signed onto two letters, one to federal banking regulators and the other to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, urging them to loosen regulations on certain financial players.