Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is calling on the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate financial firms for allegedly making misleading statements about a federal effort to protect people saving for retirement.

In a letter sent Thursday to SEC Chair Mary Jo White, Warren said firms could have violated securities laws by issuing conflicting comments about a proposed rule that would require financial advisors to act in the best interest of their clients, rather than the best interest of their own profit.

Warren is referring to the so-called fiduciary rule, which the White House estimates could help Americans trying to retire save $17 billion a year. Current law allows financial advisors to work on commission when they offer suggestions to savers about retirement accounts, such as 401(k)s and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). Advisors are allowed to earn money from mutual fund companies for steering clients to specific funds, even if…

When is the media going to interview William Black and Bank Whistleblowers United ??

NY Post:

The political establishment is marshaling forces for a smackdown of Wall Street corruption.

The financial elite is fretting over an apocalyptic future of more regulation, more taxes, more fees (and less profit). Meanwhile, to tough-talking, reform-minded presidential candidates, nothing is off the table — from jail time for bankers to the dismemberment of their “too big to fail” banks.

And the rhetoric is not confined to the campaign trail.

“We need to control fraud and those who loot the company for their own personal enrichment,” William Black, an associate professor of economics and law at the University of Missouri, said in Washington recently, calling on the US presidential candidates to get tough on Wall Street. “Our system of checks and balances is a fake,” added Black, a whistleblower who helped expose the Keating Five savings and…

By Biloxi

A lot of people didn’t know that Ronald Reagan made “Make America Great Again” a backbone of his campaign in 1980.

From Wikipedia:

The term was created in 1979. during a time in which the United States was suffering from a worsening economy at home marked by high unemployment and inflation. The phrase “Let’s Make America Great Again” appeared on buttons and posters during Reagan’s 1980 campaign. Usually when the term is used, people use it as a reflection to the Presidency of Ronald Reagan.

Yet, “Make America Great Again” was never trademarked the slogan by Reagan. Donald Trump just did. Trump trademarked the slogan ‘Make America Great Again’ just days after the 2012 election. Trump were filed trademark papers in November 2012 which indicated how long Trump had been thinking about a serious run for the White House. Hat tip to Daily Mail:

Trump applied for…

WSJ: FHFA approves principal reduction plan

After years of speculation and equivocation, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will begin to cut the mortgage balances for a number of homeowners later this year, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

The Wall Street Journal report, written by Joe Light, states that the Federal Housing Finance Agency recently approved a plan for the government-sponsored enterprises to engage in principal reduction on a large scale for the first time since the housing crisis.

For years their leaders claimed this would never happen. They all said the GSEs were in conservatorship, not receivership, and so a reduction in asset values would be counterintuitive to that status.

Perhaps this is why the scale of the reduction program is not as significant as some might expect, as Light reports.

From the WSJ:

Fewer than 50,000 “underwater” homeowners, who owe more than…

see http://www.dailybusinessreview.com/id=1202752360518/Defense-Questions-Courts-Silence-on-Standing-in-Foreclosure-Cases?mcode=0&curindex=0&curpage=ALL

Sometimes you need to take a risk when you believe passionately enough about something. Mark Stopa who has broken  ground several times in defense of foreclosures is among those lawyers who are challenging the Florida 3rd DCA. Tom Ice has joined him in complaining about PCA opinions from the 3rd DCA. It seems this appellate court is refusing to give opinions or guidance on key elements of the foreclosure suits filed by “strangers” to the action. And the way they are doing it is by issuing rulings that merely say “Per Curium Affirmed” (“PCA”) in favor of the banks. Thus the appellate panel avoids getting into the complex issues involved with the false securitization of mortgage loans. This District Court of Appeal is steadfastly avoiding giving their rationale, reasoning or basis for their ruling leaving virtually all lawyers within their district with zero guidance on what to tell…

Banksters: Living the thug life…

Here are each CEOs pay ranked from smallest to largest, according to the article: