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Article: Viewpoint: Counterpoint - Investment Banks Have an Unfair Edge.(comparison between laws and regulations of commercial banks and investment banks)(Viewpoint essay)
- Article from:
- American Banker
- Article date:
- April 11, 2008
- Author:
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Consider the investment bank model: no financial regulation, no bank holding company restrictions, and no federal insurance premiums.
In the midst of the current financial crisis, we have the spectacle of the Treasury secretary, a former chairman of the ultimate investment bank, Goldman Sachs, leading the bailout of Bear Stearns and proposing to back all investment banks by granting access to the Federal Reserve's discount window.
Our current financial regulatory structure was created in the midst of the Depression. Commercial banking and investment banking were separated to protect bank depositors.
A deal was struck - the commercial banks would ...