Have you ever seen a car crash in slow motion? (See video). Well, we’re watching one across the pond (and the US is also going to be on this list sooner than later).
As of this morning, here are the 5-year Credit Default Swap spreads (i.e., measure of default risk) and Debt:GDP for the PIIGS, Germany, and UK:
Although we are getting closer to the handcuff phase of the economic crisis, the US Department of Justice does not have the authority to bring charges against AIG (NYSE: AIG) or uncollateralized credit default swap mastermind Joseph Cassano. This is another classic case of the criminals being 10 steps ahead of the police.
Also, this raises a much more important issue: when extremely harmful or completely unethical behavior is exceptionally creative or cutting edge, it may not yet be deemed illegal.
So, in this case, there were $1,000 an hour lawyers toiling more than 24 hours a day to abet destructive behavior. This is completely identical to the nifty off balance sheet scams engineered by Enron. As we speak, armies of the brightest legal minds are pouring over the new Financial Regulation Bills in order to help another savvy client do the same.
When will we preempt this game of smart cat and slow mouse? When we establish a set of core principals in finance which establish an ethical playing field. I discussed this in depth on Fox Business on Friday night, and I will be publishing my full proposal in the weeks to come.
Unfortunately, until we transform the Wild West of Wall Street into a productive gridiron, the next financially engineered scam is inevitable. And until we arrest and punish CEOs like Lehman Brother’s Dick Fuld, corporate executives will continue using the ridiculous excuse that they somehow deserve all the credit when their strategy is successful yet somehow had no idea what was happening when their strategy screwed others. Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and Citigroup (NYSE: C) are also particularly adept at this PR game.
Yesterday, Joseph Cassano’s attorney, F. Joseph Warin, said ”[T]he results are wholly appropriate in light of our client’s factual innocence.” This is public relations speak for: “Since you suckers did not have a law prohibiting my client’s destructive behavior, he was appropriately allowed to escape punishment by your incompetent law makers and executives.”
The full SIGTARP report on AIG and its counterparty payments has been released. It contains all you need to know about the NYFED’s bailout of Goldman Sachs. We are currently going through the report, and will post our findings as we have them.
Key timeline events:
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AIG’s collateral postings:
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Total taxpayer subsidies:
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Historical and current AIG CDS exposure:
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And the most critical conclusion presented by Neil Barofsky: The SIGTARP blasts the Fed’s ongoing desire to keep everything hidden and under a layer of opacity, as it keeps on lying to taxpayers that all is fine with the US economy, and urges investors to part with their hard-earned dollars and “invest” in toxic husks of zombie companies, when it knows full well that the entire financial system is constantly on the cusp of yet another collapse, and the market ponzi scheme could collapse at any minute.
The now familiar argument from Government officials about the dire consequences of basic transparency, as advocated by the Federal Reserve in connection with Maiden Lane III once again simply does not withstand scrutiny. Federal Reserve officials initially refused to disclose the identities of the counterparties or the details of the payments, warning that disclosure of the names would undermine AIG’s stability, the privacy and business interests of the counterparties, and the stability of the markets. After public and Congressional pressure, AIG disclosed the identities. Notwithstanding the Federal Reserve warnings, the sky did not fall; there is no indication that AIG’s disclosure undermined the stability of AIG or the market or damaged legitimate interested of the counterparties. The lesson that should be learned – one that has been made apparent time after time in the Government’s response to the financial crisis – is that the default position, whenever Government funds are deployed in a crisis to support markets or institutions, should be that the public is entitled to know what is being done with Government funds. While SIGTARP acknowledges that there might be circumstances in which the public’s right to know what its Government is doing should be circumscribed, those instances should be very few and very far between.
Although we are getting closer to the handcuff phase of the economic crisis, the US Department of Justice 
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