...later part of 2008 the world observed what is being labeled the world financial crisis since the Great Depression of 1920-30. The initial indication of a severe financial melt-down appeared in October 9, 2007 when the Dow Jones Industrial Average set a record by closing at 14,047. One year later, the Dow was just above 8,000, after dropping 21% in the first nine days of October 2008. Major stock markets in other countries had plunged alongside the Dow. Credit markets were nearing paralysis. Companies began to lay off workers in droves and were forced to put off capital investments. Individual consumers were being denied loans for mortgages and college tuition. After the nine-day U.S. stock market plunge, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had some sobering words: “Intensifying solvency concerns about a number of the largest U.S.-based and European financial institutions have pushed the global financial system to the brink of systemic meltdown.” It has been maintained that huge economy inequalities coupled with low rate of profit in the US economy contributed to an increased capital flow to the financial sector and the increasing provision of credit to US workers whose real incomes had declined. Under auspices of financial innovations, debt was sold in complex new financial products to investors. Cheap and apparently riskless lending drove the rising leverage of investments. ‘Securitization’ helped to spread the risks to global financial markets and deficient government...
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...of the borrower's lowered credit rating, a conventional mortgage is not offered because the lender views the borrower as having a larger-than-average risk of defaulting on the loan. Lending institutions often charge interest on subprime mortgages at a rate that is higher than a conventional mortgage in order to compensate themselves for carrying more risk. There are several different kinds of subprime mortgage structures available. The most common is the adjustable rate mortgage (ARM), which initially charges a fixed interest rate, and then converts to a floating rate based on an index such as LIBOR, plus a margin. The better known types of ARMs include3/27 and2/28 ARMs. ARMs are somewhat misleading to subprime borrowers in that the borrowers initially pay a lower interest rate. When their mortgages reset to the higher, variable rate, mortgage payments increase significantly. This is one of the factors that lead to the sharp increase in the number of subprime mortgage foreclosures in August of 2006, and the subprime mortgage meltdown that ensued. Many lenders were more liberal in granting these loans from 2004 to 2006 as a result of lower interest rates and high capital liquidity. Lenders sought additional profits through these higher risk loans, and they charged interest rates above prime in order to compensate for the additional risk they assumed. Consequently, once the rate of subprime mortgage foreclosures skyrocketed, many lenders experienced extreme financial difficulties...
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...Final Project: A New House – Decision XECO 212 Week 9 7/21/11 Seffan Bune Home ownership is considered by many as the pinnacle of the American dream, a two car garage, white picket fence, and nice backyard for those projects that are somehow always nearly completed. This is what we have been told is the major leap into adulthood and makes you one of the high caliber Americans who can claim that their home is their castle, but is this still true in this country? With the financial downturn and the home foreclosures at a all time high, nearly every block I see has a home for sale at reduced price so how does this milestone still hold up to scrutiny and how can this generation still reach for that goalpost of what is considered the standard of the happy nuclear family? The decision to purchase a home is the major point in an American life and it is a decision that should not be taken lightly because if not done correctly and with a plan on how to sustain the purchase that is not solid the consequences could be dire. After taking this course I have found out that there are methods and concepts that if implemented correctly the idea of owning a home is still within grasp of many of us but there are many things that need to be weighed before pulling the trigger on such a large and momentous decision. First are the ten principles of economics which I will go into more detail later on that are crucial to making a large purchase be it a home, car, or any other large ticket item...
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...Introduction The real estate market, like other markets, is subject to the pressure of supply and demand. When speculation runs wild, prices can inflate rapidly. This is a "housing bubble." The danger in this situation is that the market will not be capable of sustaining the inflated prices, so the value of properties begins to come down, sometimes rapidly. Definition of a Housing Bubble * A "housing bubble" is a cyclical economic event where high trade volumes inflate prices, which ultimately become unsustainable, causing a lowering, or "crash" in values. Economic bubbles may be called by a variety of terms, including a speculative bubble, a market bubble or a balloon. Economic cycles of this nature are not exclusive to real estate. They have occurred throughout history in a variety of markets, including stocks, tulips and pottery. Contributing Factors to Unstable Housing Conditions * It could be argued that a housing bubble is really an example of a credit bubble. Although real estate is the underlying commodity, most house buyers use credit -- in the form of a mortgage -- to secure the property. Lax lending guidelines, rapidly inflating values, speculative buyers and the use of adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs), which can adjust to higher rates, are all factors in accelerating the likelihood of borrowers defaulting on their loans. The Effect a Housing Bubble Has on Local Markets * Tighter credit is likely to result after a housing bubble bursts; and although...
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...Role of Structured Credit Products in the Recent Financial Crisis Abstract In 2008, the world faced the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression of 1930s. The collapse of the housing bubble and the increasing default rates on subprime mortgages in 2006 triggered liquidity constraints and the insolvency of firms which were priorly considered “too big to fail”, set off a domino effect across the US and global financial markets. Although it has been suggested that the causes of the crisis in the big picture are attributable to the fundamental properties of capitalist system, today it is beyond any doubt that the structured financial instruments and the prevalent risks they revealed were at the center of the turmoil. In this paper, we look at the development of financial innovation and the advent of the structured products. The major risks they possess, how they have led to the financial crisis. Keywords: structured credit products, global financial crisis, CDO, CDS, structured finance 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Structured products …………………..…………………………………………………..……4 Risks involved with structured products ………………………………………………………7 Role of structured products in the global financial crisis …………………………………….10 Measures taken and post-crisis situation .……………………..……………………………...12 References ……………………………………………………………………………………14 3 1 Structured Products Structured products have changed the way the banks manage and mitigate the risk in their portfolios...
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...Sloan School of Management E60-382, 30 Memorial Drive Cambridge, MA 02421 December 14, 2011 ABSTRACT: The advent of the Great Recession in 2008 was the culmination of a perfect storm of lax regulation, a growing housing bubble, rising popularity of derivatives instruments, and questionable banking practices. In addition to these causes, management incentives, as well as certain US accounting standards, contributed to the financial crisis. We outline the significant effects of these incentive structures, and the role of fair value accounting standards during the crisis, and discuss implications and relevance of these rules to practitioners, standard-setters, and academics. This article is based on a presentation by Deputy Dean and Professor SP Kothari of the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, at Baruch College on October 25, 2010. 1 Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1972354 The Role of Accounting in the Financial Crisis: Lessons for the Future I. Introduction The Great Recession that started in 2008 has had significant effects on the US and global economy; estimates of the amount of US wealth lost are approximately $14 trillion (Luhby 2009). Various causes of the financial crisis have been cited, including lax regulation over mortgage lending, a growing housing bubble, the rise of derivatives instruments such as collaterized debt obligations, and questionable banking practices. In addition to these and many...
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...Brother’s was founded in 1850. Lehman Brother’s survived the Great Depression, WWI and WWII. In 1969 Lehman Brother’s hired Richard “Dick” S. Fuld Jr. as an intern who in 1994 became CEO of the Company. During Bill Clinton’s Presidency government started to support middle and lower class people to own their own houses. During this time a XX”Fair Housing Act” was created which was supposed to stop mortgage banks from discriminating lower income people from owning their own houses. The 911 attacks from 2001 created the greatest loss in Wall Street since The Great Depression. George Bush and the government encouraged Americans to buy more property. Mortgage companies started to take advantage of all these factors and lured low income uneducated people to buy mortgages with introductory rates. They never warned these buyers that these were just introductory rates that would later increase. This in turn created a larger problem for the new uneducated homeowners. These new loans created havoc for the homeowners that were struggling to make payments, and then came the massive layoffs. The economy nearly came to a standstill, and the housing market was one of the hardest hit sectors in the global economy. With the perfect situations created by loose regulations, and the perceived opportunities to make massive profits, Lehman Bros seized the opportunity to make huge gains. The strategic moves in order to cover the perception of false profits caught up to the company. When bank of America...
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...FINANIAL CRISIS 2008 AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE The business world is questioning whether Corporate Governance has become a mere catchphrase, divorced from the contentious problems it is supposed to solve… MEMBERS: AYUSH KUMAR-030 NIPEKSH I MAHAJAN-082 PRABHAV MISHRA-0 PRATEEK KUMAR-096 VAIBHAV JAIN-164 “Why should a financial engineer be paid four, four times... to a hundred times more than the real engineer? A real engineer build bridges, a financial engineer build, build dreams. And when those dream turn out to be nightmares, other people pay for it.” - Andrew Sheng “Contrary to the vulgar belief that men are motivated primarily by materialistic considerations, we now see the capitalist system being discredited and destroyed all over the world, even though the system has given men the greatest material comforts” - Ayn Rand “In fact, there is ultimately a limit to how much regulation can do. In the final analysis, you could write all the rules you want, but there has to be a philosophy of ethical behaviour that comes from human beings operating in a professional way” – William H. Donaldson, CFA “The global crisis was caused by “the over-50s not knowing what the under-30’s were doing” – Johann Rupert, Remgro Chairman “The first casualty of a downturn is truth” - Financial Times Columnist 30 Sept 2008 Introduction- The banking crisis was triggered by largely unregulated trading of complex financial instruments, including mortgaged-backed...
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...1/15/2015 The Great American Bubble Machine | Rolling Stone ǺŘČĦİVĚȘ MŲȘİČ PǾĿİȚİČȘ ȚV MǾVİĚȘ ČŲĿȚŲŘĚ ŘĚVİĚẄȘ ĿİȘȚȘ ŘȘ ČǾŲŇȚŘỲ ȘŲBȘČŘİBĚ Nutribullet … Ninja Mega … Nutri Ninja BL450 £119.99 £169.99 £80.90 (plus delivery) (plus delivery) (plus delivery) The Great American Bubble Machine Fřǿm țěčħ șțǿčķș țǿ ħįģħ ģǻș přįčěș, Ģǿŀđmǻň Șǻčħș ħǻș ěňģįňěěřěđ ěvěřỳ mǻjǿř mǻřķěț mǻňįpųŀǻțįǿň șįňčě țħě Ģřěǻț Đěpřěșșįǿň -- ǻňđ țħěỳ'řě ǻbǿųț țǿ đǿ įț ǻģǻįň BỲ MǺȚȚ ȚǺİBBİ | Ǻpřįŀ 5, 2010 Șħǻřě Țẅěěț Șħǻřě Čǿmměňț Ěmǻįŀ ADVERTISEMENT Victor Juhasz The first thing you need to know about Goldman Sachs is that it's everywhere. The world's most powerful investment bank is a great http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/thegreatamericanbubblemachine20100405 AROUND THE WEB 1/61 1/15/2015 The Great American Bubble Machine | Rolling Stone vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money. In fact, the history of the recent financial crisis, which doubles as a history of the rapid decline and fall of the suddenly swindled dry American empire, reads like a Who's Who of Goldman Sachs graduates. '80ș Șțǻřș Ỳǿų Ẅǿň'ț Řěčǿģňįżě Țǿđǻỳ 5 Mįňǿř 'Șțǻř Ẅǻřș' Ǻčțǿřș Ỳǿų Đįđň'ț Řěǻŀįżě Ẅěřě İň Ěvěřỳțħįňģ Mųșįčįǻňș Ẅħǿ Ǻřěň’ț Ẅħǿ Ỳǿų Țħįňķ Țħěỳ Ǻřě Fǻmǿųș Șǿňģș Țħǻț ...
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...Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative University of New Mexico http://danielsethics.mgt.unm.edu Banking Industry Meltdown: The Ethical and Financial Risks of Derivatives INTRODUCTION The 2008–2009 global recession was caused in part by a failure of the financial industry to take appropriate responsibility for its decision to utilize risky and complex financial instruments. Corporate cultures were built on rewards for taking risks rather than rewards for creating value for stakeholders. Unfortunately, most stakeholders, including the public, regulators, and the mass media, do not always understand the nature of the financial risks taken on by banks and other institutions to generate profits. Problems in the subprime mortgage markets sounded the alarm in the 2008–2009 economic downturn. Very simply, the subprime market was created by making loans to people who normally would not qualify based on their credit ratings. The debt from these loans was often repackaged and sold to other financial institutions in order to take it off lenders’ books and reduce their exposure. When the real estate market became overheated, many people were no longer able to make the payments on their variable rate mortgages. When consumers began to default on payments, prices in the housing market dropped and the values of credit default swaps (the repackaged mortgage debt, also known as CDSs) lost significant value. The opposite was supposed to happen. CDSs were sold as a method of insuring against loss. These...
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...equation (if at all)? Can you cite examples of companies that took the profit-maximization mandate too far at the expense of society as a whole? Respond RE: Class-- Ligia Filion 8/31/2011 10:17:03 PM A prime example of investment maximization would be the Real Estate Market in 2006- 2007. A lot of the Real Estate owners took advantage of the mortgage boom and the over priced homes that were being sold. The inflation of prices made homeowners who were selling their homes great profits/ return at the time of sale. The Realtor's selling the homes were also getting commission from the homes they sold. The higher the prices of the home the greater the profits they could go home with. Respond RE: Class-- Rafael Aguilar 9/1/2011 3:12:32 PM As a senior executive at my current company, I would be foolish to disagree with the statement that maximazation of profit and return on investments is the primary business goal. I personally am one that believes that the whole social responsibility situation has been overused and exagerated to much. Yes, a company should not overextend itself where they are geapordizing the financial security of the state or country. However, it is important to keep government economy seperate from the business sector in the sense that a company shouldn't bear as much pressure as they currently have to control their profitability mandate. If you look at the current housing market meltdown, many if not all blame...
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... THE SUBPRIME CRISIS I n the summer of 2007 many leading banks in the us and Europe were hit by a collapse in the value of mortgage-backed securities which they had themselves been responsible for packaging.* To the surprise of many, the poisonous securities turned out to constitute a major portion of their ultimate asset base. The defaults fostered a credit crunch as all financial institutions hoarded cash and required ever widening premiums before lending to one another. The Wall Street investment banks and brokerages haemorrhaged $175 billion of capital in the period July 2007 to March 2008, and Bear Stearns, the fifth largest, was ‘rescued’ in March, at a fire-sale price, by JP Morgan Chase with the help of $29 billion of guarantees from the Federal Reserve. Many of the rest only survived by selling huge chunks of preferred stock, with guaranteed premium rates of return, to a string of ‘sovereign funds’, owned by the governments of Abu Dhabi, Singapore, South Korea and China, among others. By the end of January 2008, $75 billion of new capital had been injected into the banks, but it was not enough. In the uk the sharply rising cost of liquidity destroyed the business model of a large mortgage house, leading to the first bank run in the uk for 150 years and obliging the British Chancellor first to extend nearly £60 billion in loans and guarantees to its depositors and then to take the concern, Northern Rock, into public ownership. In late January Société Générale, famous...
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...shielding the middlemen who created the problems. These legal Enablers permitted the growth of a shadow banking system, without investment limits, transparency or government oversight. In the shadows grew a variety of highly leveraged private investment pools, undercapitalized conduits of securitized loans and speculation in complex credit derivatives. The rationale for allowing this unregulated, parallel system was that it helped to create innovation and provide liquidity. The conventional wisdom was that any risks associated with a hands-off approach could be managed by the ―invisible hand‖3 of the market. In other words, instead of public police, it relied upon private gatekeepers. A legal framework including legislation, rules and court decisions supported this system. This legal structure depended upon corporate managers, counterparties, ―sophisticated investors‖ and the market generally to prevent irrational conduct. 4 The hands-off approach was premised upon a series of beliefs or expectations. The first was that corporate managers would not sacrifice long-term shareholder value for short-term gains. The second was that trading counterparties would monitor each other closely and discourage excessive risk. The third was that ―sophisticated investors‖ had the...
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...pResented by the society of ActuARies, the cAsuAlty ActuARiAl society And the cAnAdiAn institute of ActuARies Risk Management: The Current Financial Crisis, Lessons Learned and Future Implications Copyright 2008 by the Society of Actuaries. R I s k M a n a g e M e n T: the current financial crisis, lessons learned and future implications introduction the current financial crisis presents a case study of a “financial tsunami” (as former federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan recently called it) on what can go wrong. its ramifications are far-reaching and the lessons learned will be embedded in risk management practices for years to come. As one of the premier enterprise risk professions in practice today, the actuarial profession is sharing its substantial insight into what went wrong and the implications for the future. on behalf of the society of Actuaries, the casualty Actuarial society and the canadian institute of Actuaries, we are pleased to provide a series of essays on Risk Management: The Current Financial Crisis, Lessons Learned and Future Implications. this e-book is the result of a call for essays on the subject coordinated by the following groups: • • • • The Joint Risk Management Section of the Society of Actuaries, Casualty Actuarial Society and Canadian institute of Actuaries The Investment Section of the Society of Actuaries International Network of Actuarial Risk Managers Enterprise Risk Management Institute International ...
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...Policy #2 The history of the American economy has been greatly impacted by the industrial revolution. Life as the people of this time knew it would have a big change ahead of them. The normal life of using your hands to produce products would become more of machines doing the manual work. There was a boom in population and income stemming from the economy becoming more efficient. The Industrial Revolution increased the supply of goods dramatically from the invention of a mass-production technique that was represented by Henry Ford. The majority of the increase of supply was largely seen in mining, steel, oil, transportation networks, communications networks, industrial cities, and financial centers, but also consumer goods. The concept of people not having to use their hands as much anymore was an important advancement. The time being saved was significant not to mention how efficient these steam powered machines were in production. Now the overall work time is being cut dramatically considering they could now have settings for machines to produce the work. At the same time, the workers needed to realize this meant there would be less jobs available for employees. There would be less work to manage, but this led to creating a bigger profit since there was not as much man power needed in the factory. This idea of having the machine do the dirty work sparked the importance of profits for the business leaders, which over time has arguably led to the greedy business leaders we...
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