Prosecutions are game changers. Obama is a meliorist.

Why did Goldman thought it was necessary to take out protection against investment-grade mortgage securities it was selling by purchasing insurance-like contracts known as credit-default swaps. FCIC Commission chair Phil Angelides likened it to selling a car with knowledge it had faulty brakes and then taking out an insurance policy on the buyer.
“There seems an unwritten premise that Wall Street, exactly how it exists today, is necessary for the economy to work. That’s not true. … Wall Street has done an incredible job at pulling the wool over the eyes of the American people.”

Tucked into the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009 [FERA], which was signed into law on May 20th, is a provision for a “Financial Markets Commission”. See, S. 386 at section 5. This is essentially a new Pecora Commission.

Is Nancy Pelosi right? Do we need a new Pecora Commission? After all we have the rules and regulations of the stock exchanges, we have the SEC, we have FINRA (formerly NASD for old folks like me), we have the FDIC and the Federal Reserve. Isn’t that enough oversight?

Maybe not. If those institutions were functioning as they should; if they had teeth and their people had a driving sense of mission,

For those of you who don’t work on Wall Street, I thought it might be useful to define some terms that you may be reading or hearing in the news media, that might be used during testimony before a Congressional Banking Committee, and which will undoubtedly be used if a new Pecora Commission is constituted.