Citigroup Is Top Underwriter for Firms Gone Bankrupt (Update1)

[54anickel]

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=nifea&&sid=aOpgT9Cohhv0

April 13 (Bloomberg) -- The world's 10 biggest investment banks, led by Citigroup Inc., earned at least $1.28 billion in fees since 2000 underwriting securities for companies such as WorldCom Inc. and Enron Corp. that went bankrupt.

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``We're suing the aiders and abettors of the fraud -- the banks,'' said David Bronner, 59, chief executive of the Retirement Systems of Alabama in Birmingham, which manages $25 billion in pension fund assets for 300,000 state employees. ``The investment banks, the gatekeepers to the capital markets, are paid huge fees to say, `Here is our credibility.' For throwing their credibility in the trash can for dollars, they will hopefully get the punishment they deserve.''

Seventy years ago, U.S. lawmakers tried to rein in Wall Street excesses by passing the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 and the Securities Acts of 1933 and 1934. Glass-Steagall, which prohibited commercial banks such as Citigroup from underwriting securities, was repealed in 1999.

Amazing Resemblance

``The resemblances between what's going on today and what happened in the late '20s are amazing considering the securities acts and Glass-Steagall that were passed to prevent this sort of thing,'' said Charles Geisst, professor of economics at Manhattan College, and author of ``Wall Street: A History.''

more...

[mbperrin]

1. That would be Phil Gramm who got Glass-Steagall repealed

and who now works for the SWISS company USB while his wife left her regulatory position at FTC after passing regulations favorable to Enron, upon whose audit committee she sat and still sits.

Phil? He's trying to get the state of Texas to pay for insuring the lives of all retired teachers to pay the state as beneficiary to help them out from all the bad investments they've made.

Citigroup and the rest of the whole big-money-for-themselves-fast bunch should be taken out and....well, GROUPED!

[cosmicdot]

2. and, UBS is right up there in the Top Contributors to Campaign 2004

they only discriminate when it comes to total contribution to each camp $43,800 vs.$374,050

Bush

Top Contributors

Cycle: 2004 All Cycles*
Merrill Lynch
$471,454

PriceWaterhouseCoopers
$460,100

UBS Americas
$374,050

MBNA Corp
$343,000

Lehman Brothers
$302,059

Goldman Sachs
$301,225

Credit Suisse First Boston
$279,450

Morgan Stanley
$248,975

Ernst & Young
$248,605

Bear Stearns
$247,000

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
$229,550

Citigroup Inc
$227,775

Blank Rome LLP
$208,400

Southern Co
$182,747

Microsoft Corp
$162,850

Vinson & Elkins
$161,500

Haynes & Boone
$161,150

Union Pacific Corp
$160,500

Winston & Strawn
$156,650

Ameriquest Capital
$152,800
http://www.opensecrets.org/presidential/contrib.asp?id=N00008072&cycle=2004

JOHN KERRY (D)

Top Contributors

Cycle: 2004 All Cycles*

Skadden, Arps et al
$128,125

Robins, Kaplan et al
$103,500

Piper Rudnick LLP
$88,300

Citigroup Inc
$86,750

Mintz, Levin et al
$75,350

Goldman Sachs
$73,750

Harvard University
$67,950

Akin, Gump et al
$61,550

Time Warner
$58,950

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance
$54,250

Hill, Holliday et al
$53,750

FleetBoston Financial
$49,250

Holland & Knight
$48,450

International Profit Assoc
$44,250

UBS Americas
$43,800

Hale & Dorr
$43,000

Morgan Stanley
$42,500

Clifford Law Offices
$41,850

Latham & Watkins
$41,000

Nixon Peabody LLP
$39,500


http://www.opensecrets.org/presidential/contrib.asp?id=N00000245&cycle=2004

[54anickel]

3. Thanks to both you and cosmicdot for the follow up information. I knew

it was a Repug move, couldn't remember how it all came about. Like so much of the deregulation that has gone on over the years since Raygun. Everyone just shrugs and says, yeah why not, those rules are so outdated and place such huge restrictions on corporations to flourish. So history repeats itself again and again. :grr: