Before the financial crisis, Wall Street firms were generally not permitted to do traditional consumer lending because they were not set up as federally insured banks. But as part of the government bailout in the 2008 crisis, Goldman and its archrival, Morgan Stanley, were required to become bank holding companies.
.. In early discussions, the firm has been talking about making loans that would be about $15,000 to $20,000, people briefed on the conversation said. In terms of distributing the money, Goldman is considering issuing a sort of prepaid card could be drawn down each time the borrower buys something with it.
FIFA And Global Power
One key fact is the centrality of the American financial system to the world economy – something that in turn rests on the importance of US-based banks and the role of the dollar as the pre-eminent global reserve currency. The US has standing in the Fifa cases because allegedly corrupt transactions were made through banks based in America.
.. Could this change? Possibly. But it would probably require the Chinese currency to become a global reserve currency to rival the dollar. That is why the IMF’s decision later this year about whether to include China in the basket of currencies from which it makes up its Special Drawing Rights will be keenly watched. Such a move would be a visible step along the road to turning the renminbi into a global reserve currency. That, in turn, might ultimately threaten the dollar’s unique position in the global system – and the power that it confers on the US.
.. But if the US Department of Justice says there is a serious case to answer, it still carries global credibility. The same benefit of the doubt would not be extended to a prosecutor in Moscow or Beijing.
China is certainly closing the wealth gap with America, just as Asia is closing the gap with the west. But the reputation of American institutions for integrity remains a vital intangible asset. It is that reputation that allowed the US to tackle Fifa.
What is it like to make millions trading?
The main thing is, most people who make a lot of money trading don’t love trading. Those who do will make a lot of money the rest of their lives. But those who are in it for the money will burn out. When people ask about careers with lots of earning potential I always worry that if the job is only a means to money they will either burn out or become terrible people. Me, I loved the challenges presented by trading, and enjoyed the money, but there was no life-long commitment because once I had solved the problems I wanted to solve no mission, vision, or purpose remained.
Organized Crime on Wall Street
I don’t think anyone was surprised to learn that major banks including JPMorgan, Citigroup, Barclays, RBS, and UBS conspired to manipulate currency prices — something that regulators have been investigating for over a year and a half. One common strategy was cooperating to time large transactions in order to manipulate daily benchmark rates at which other client transactions are executed.