KeNo's Housing and Economic Portal: Tuesday December 13 Housing and Economic stories

Monday, December 12, 2011

Tuesday December 13 Housing and Economic stories

KeNosHousingPortal.blogspot.com

TOP STORIES:

Here's The SEC's Statement On Why It Can Prosecute Members Of Congress, But Doesn't – (www.businessinsider.com) Last month, '60 Minutes' blew open allegations of long-standing insider trading practices by members of Congress, sparking a national debate about lawmakers getting rich off the people they serve. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee is holding a hearing today into ways to prevent and prosecute such unethical actions, after initial reports suggested that the Securities and Exchange Commission could not investigate those violations. But in prepared testimony to the committee, the SEC's Robert Khuzami, the director of the commission's Division of Enforcement, writes that the independent agency is empowered to prosecute members of Congress and their staffers, but that it never has. Insider trading cases are difficult to prove on Wall Street, but in Washington it's even more difficult due to congressional protections under the Speech or Debate Clause — and the challenges to identify appropriate access and dissemination of information, and such practices that cross the line.

Wall Street Pushed Federal Reserve for Europe Action - (online.wsj.com) Wall Street executives, in a private meeting with a top Federal Reserve official in late September, recommended a coordinated effort by central banks to remedy the European financial crisis, according to Fed documents received in an open-records request. The meeting, led by Louis Bacon, founder of hedge fund Moore Capital Management, preceded a joint action Wednesday by the world's major central banks, which banded together to provide liquidity to the markets through cheap U.S. dollar loans. Wednesday's moves involved central-bank coordination to lend to European banks, and it couldn't be determined what precisely prompted the Fed and the other central bankers to act. In the September meeting, the Wall Street executives suggested a different kind of coordination by central banks—boosting the global economy by buying securities or through other methods of injecting liquidity. Coordinated lending to European banks wasn't among their suggestions.

Mass. AG hits big banks with foreclosure lawsuit - (www.reuters.com) The Massachusetts attorney general has filed a lawsuit against five large U.S. banks accusing them of deceptive foreclosure practices, a signal of ebbing confidence that a multi-state agreement can be worked out. Attorney General Martha Coakley said on Thursday the lawsuit was filed in state court in Boston against Bank of America Corp, JPMorgan Chase & Co Inc, Citigroup Inc, Wells Fargo & Co and GMAC. It also names the banks' private mortgage registry, MERS, as a defendant. "Our suit alleges that the banks have charted a destructive path by cutting corners and rushing to foreclose on homeowners without following the rule of law," Coakley said in a statement. "Our action today seeks real accountability for the banks illegal behavior and real relief for homeowners."

Italy, Greece Among Worst Euro Nations in Corruption Ranks; N.Z. Cleanest - (www.bloomberg.com) Italy and Greece scored the lowest among euro-area countries in a global corruption ranking as their inability to tackle graft and tax evasionexacerbated the debt crisis, watchdog group Transparency International said. Italy came in 69th and Greece placed 80th, down from 67th and 78th respectively in the 2010 ranking, the Berlin-based group’s Corruption Perceptions Index showed today. Ireland dropped five places to 19th, earning a score of 7.5 out of 10, a drop from 8 points in last year’s ranking, Transparency said. “Euro-zone countries suffering debt crises, partly because of public authorities’ failure to tackle the bribery and tax evasion that are key drivers of debt crisis, are among the lowest-scoring EU countries,” the group said in the report.

Europe’s engulfment in the sovereign-debt crisis has exposed the failure of indebted governments to raise revenue and tackle reforms, prompting crowds of protesters to fill the streets to demand their ouster. Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi resigned as prime minister last month, two days after his Greek counterpart, George Papandreou, was forced out.

Analysis: Deal building to pump up IMF to handle Europe fallout - (www.reuters.com) A deal is building to boost the International Monetary Fund's resources even as the world presses euro-zone leaders to put more of their own firepower on the line to defeat a debt crisis that threatens global growth. Mexico, which assumes on Thursday the rotating presidency of the Group of 20 nations, said on Wednesday it would make increasing IMF resources a priority. IMF members agree the global lender needs more money to handle the fallout from the euro zone's fiscal mess. The effort raises two issues: whether Europe is doing enough on its own to deal with the crisis and where the money for the IMF will come from.