According to the WSJ at a charity dinner in New York last week, private-equity titan Stephen Schwarzman couldn't resist drawing a parallel between Brian Moynihan, Bank of America Corp.'s chief executive, and his brother, Patrick Moynihan, a deacon and missionary.
"Patrick runs a Catholic boarding school in Haiti," the head of Blackstone Group L.P. told a Waldorf Astoria ballroom packed with the likes of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and assorted Wall Street powerbrokers. "Their parents must be so proud to see two of their boys each running an underfunded, nonprofit, organization." The banking industry is in a state of complete flux. Economists disagree over whether the nation is sliding back into recession, but there's no debate that the banking sector has already "double-dipped." Francesco Guerrera explains on The News Hub.
It was a good joke and the luminaries laughed. Even Mr. Moynihan's lips creased into what might be described as a smile. But outside the gilded confines of the Waldorf, the banking industry is not having much fun.
After a brief, if spectacular, rebound in profits in 2009—largely due to government aid received during the crisis and the unleashing of pent-up investor demand after it—banks' fortunes have taken a turn for the worse. Some executives have even begun to wonder whether the industry is entering its own Great Depression—not a "normal" cyclical downturn but a prolonged slump that will leave a lasting mark on the sector's structure….
Read more at : http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203911804576650771990385078.html?mod=WSJ_business_LeftSecondHighlights
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