Fees coming on CDO's, etc

[listedguru]

05:37 Obama proposes new transaction fees for financial firms' riskiest investments - WSJ

The Wall Street Journal reports President Obama said for the first time that the government might assess new fees against financial companies engaging in what he labeled "far-out transactions," in order to protect taxpayers from future bailouts. Mr. Obama on Wednesday compared the possible fees to the assessments that more than 8,000 banks pay the FDIC to guarantee deposits. He didn't describe what sorts of transactions might trigger the fees, though the way he described it suggests the proposal could cover exotic instruments such as credit derivatives that some believe played a key role in escalating the financial crisis. He also indicated that the fees might be levied against transactions the government wants to discourage. Administration officials declined to elaborate on Mr. Obama's remarks regarding the fees. It is unclear if there is a concrete proposal pending, or what the details would be. Mr. Obama threw some harsh words at Wall Street, expressing a growing sense of frustration that more industry practices haven't changed in the wake of the financial crisis.

 

[texrex2002]

Quote from listedguru:

05:37 Obama proposes new transaction fees for financial firms' riskiest investments - WSJ

The Wall Street Journal reports President Obama said for the first time that the government might assess new fees against financial companies engaging in what he labeled "far-out transactions," in order to protect taxpayers from future bailouts. Mr. Obama on Wednesday compared the possible fees to the assessments that more than 8,000 banks pay the FDIC to guarantee deposits. He didn't describe what sorts of transactions might trigger the fees, though the way he described it suggests the proposal could cover exotic instruments such as credit derivatives that some believe played a key role in escalating the financial crisis. He also indicated that the fees might be levied against transactions the government wants to discourage. Administration officials declined to elaborate on Mr. Obama's remarks regarding the fees. It is unclear if there is a concrete proposal pending, or what the details would be. Mr. Obama threw some harsh words at Wall Street, expressing a growing sense of frustration that more industry practices haven't changed in the wake of the financial crisis.

I accidentally watched that statement live, and they're leaving out all the parts where he said that this is America and profits are good.

The fees idea was in the question presented, and not so much in the answer.

What I heard was that his idea was to identify players that were deemed large enough to cause systemic risk pay into an FDIC like fund to be used should they need to be bailed out.

He didn't categorically deny that anyone was in favor of disincentivizing "far out transactions," but he also didn't even hint at that it was in the pipeline anywhere...

I didn't vote for him, but I am very proud of the fact that he has an opinion and can extempraneously respond to questions without the need for teleprompters and note cards. Too bad that I disagree with almost all of his initiatives, but at least we have a president that is presidential, and not some buffoon...