Sunday, September 23, 2012

Wall Street 2.0: Has it really changed?




Kevin Roose writes: Times columnist Joe Nocera wrote that after the fall of Lehman, “everything changed,” including our common attitude toward debt and our willingness to address income inequality. But skeptical critics like Dennis Kelleher, the CEO of advocacy group Better Markets, say that Wall Street is much the same as it ever was, with big banks still engaging in risky and unethical behavior with impunity, threatening the stability of the U.S. economy.  Both the change-proclaimers and the cynics have arguments in their favor, so let's weigh the evidence.  Five ways the New Wall Street is different:

1. Smaller, leaner banks. Since the end of 2006, AIG and the five U.S. investment banks that compose the so-called "bulge bracket" (Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, and Morgan Stanley) have lost nearly $600 billion in market value....

2. No more prop trading. Before Lehman, most investment banks were structured on the mullet model — a patina of old-fashioned business in the front (an old-line M&A business and flow trading operation) and a risky, lucrative party in the back (proprietary trading desks). The Volcker Rule changed all that...

3. Muted celebrations…..

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