I mentioned last weekend that I hoped Sen. Carl Levin would use the time freed up from running for reelection to blast some of his pet issues, like prodding the banksters who nearly broke the world. Comes now a note from my (not the commentariats’) favorite financial writer ranter, Matt Taibbi:
Beginning at 9:30 a.m. [today], I’m going to be live-blogging a hearing held by Senator Carl Levin’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations – the best crew of high-end detectives this side of The Wire, in my opinion – who will be grilling J.P. Morgan Chase executives and high-ranking federal regulators in a get-together entitled, “J.P. Morgan Chase “Whale” Trades: A Case History Of Derivatives Risks And Abuses.” This follows this afternoon’s release of a brutal 301-page report commissioned by Levin and Republican John McCain by the same name.
The Subcommittee investigators, largely the same crew who unraveled financial scandals surrounding infamous Goldman Sachs trades like Abacus and Timberwolf, and also took on HSBC’s trans-global money-laundering activities in an extraordinarily detailed report issued last summer, have now taken aim at the heart of the Too-Big-To-Fail issue through its examination of the much-publicized catastrophic derivative trades made by its amusingly-nicknamed “London Whale” trader, Bruno Iksil, last year….
Read the whole thing for much more information. I won’t be around to catch the start of this, but I do hope there will be fireworks.
c u n d gulag
Anne,
Respectfully, instead of hoping for fireworks, I’d prefer firing-squads!
jibeaux
A member of the Keating Five commissioning a report on corruption in the financial industry…ok. I guess that’s good, dunno.
jeffreyw
@c u n d gulag: Let’s not be too hasty in dismissing fireworks.
NotMax
@jeffreyw
And for years and years and years afterwards, regarding space shots, people would say:
If you’ve seen Wan, you’ve seen them all.
(Sorry, just couldn’t resist.)
c u n d gulag
@NotMax:
Don’t apologize.
Take a bow!
c u n d gulag
@jeffreyw:
See, that was the difference between then and now.
Back then, this guy didn’t call some flunkie from calligraphy, strap him in, to see what happens.
Now, our Galt wanna-be’s would call Bob, the Temp in Accounting, and tell him that if he wanted a permanent job with benefits, he needed to do something for the company…
Mino
Another farce. Where is that retroactive pen?
El Cid
I deliver my sternest harrumph from the stiffest of upper lips because I see someone mentioning that name M____ T_____ and this will overshadow any other reaction I may have to any other subject matter for the rest of the day. I expect your groveling apology for offending my sense of rightness forthwith, else I shall label you with some sort of label insulting your immature political tendency.
lol
It’s kind of funny how you can’t mention Harry Reid’s name without people complaining about how spineless he was for not reforming the filibuster “when he had the chance” when it’s Senators like Levin who were responsible for Reid not having any chance to do so.
But I guess the script has been written and it must be followed, even in the progressive blogosphere…
Baud
@lol:
It’s memes all the way down.
gvg
I’m blown over by McCain actually trying to understand something economic. In his campaign he said he “ought” to learn more about economic but didn’t really know much…..this was before the crisis but not reassuring anyway. Every person who intends to run for President ought to learn economics and that was his second presidential campaign…
Keating 5 guy should have experience to worry about banks screwing around. In fact he should have been ahead of the wave on this issue instead of way behind.
I can’t say I have any real understanding of this event. Tabbi did not do a good outline IMO. I need more meat, more facts, better explanation. I’ve no doubt there is a fire there but I don’t understand the structure. That means I can’t vote or opinionate intellengently on this yet.
raven
Make sure to watch Red Firecracker Green Firecracker girls and boys.
some guy
jamie Dimon in handcuffs. otherwise just another dog and pony show.
Higgs Boson's Mate
Well, it isn’t as if anything bad has happened…
raven
Trailer
gratuitous
@some guy: Oh, I think Jamie Dimon will have suffered enough after today, don’t you? You don’t? Well, get over it, because that’s going to be the sum and substance of his punishment: Several frownie faces asking stern questions which Dimon will shine on. Then the gavel bangs, and everyone goes out for drinks.
Nice work if you can get it.
handsmile
To call this hearing a dog-and-pony show is to insult dogs and ponies.
From the Guardian:
“The report precedes a Senate hearing on Friday in which key players will testify, including former JP Morgan chief investment officer Ina Drew. Dimon will not take the stand.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/mar/14/jpmorgan-senate-investigation-london-whale
Dimon unmistakably signaled his contempt for the Senate during his testimony before the Banking Committee last June. That Levin’s subcommittee failed to demand his presence today should evince that that is the attitude we all should take in regard to this hearing.
Maude
@handsmile:
Levin wants to know what was going on in London. Ina Drew was there. Dimon is after the fact.
It’s may not be just JP Morgan that has problems in this area.
Omnes Omnibus
@handsmile: @Maude: Also, if the purpose of the hearing is to get information, a CEO is not necessarily the best witness. If the purpose of the hearing is to get a photo op or soundbite moment, then a CEO is the witness of choice.
Higgs Boson's Mate
@Maude:
I tuned to NPR this morning while walking the dog. They broadcast an excerpt from Drew’s testimony. “Mistakes were made,” she said. That passive voice phrase is the hymn for our times.
Maude
@Omnes Omnibus:
Exactly. I listen to Bloomberg to get info on this. This a.m. a guest said that distance is a real problem in these cases. Where he works, the boss checks with them at the end of the day, every day.
@Higgs Boson’s Mate:
Hey, it worked for Ronnie. She has a good lawyer. She would be very careful of what she says.
Ruckus
@some guy:
Handcuffs?
Let’s take this another step.
A 6×10 cell with a 100w light on 24 hrs, a steel bunk with one blanket and a tv playing 24 hrs a day with pictures of all the people that he fucked over, driving bulldozers which are tearing down all his houses and his bank and then salting the earth.
catpal
@handsmile: crap I wanted to see Jaime Dimon CRY – then taken away to prison. Will that wish EVER come true???
oooh – Senator Levin just said the word subpoena — I bet that means one of those is coming to you Mr. Super-ahole Dimon.