Admitted Drug Money Launders HSBC are going back to court. This time the firm will not be apologizing for helping Mexican Drug Cartels or 9/11 Hijackers evade the law but for predatory lending targeted at minorities. From the Associated Press: Three Atlanta-area counties have filed a lawsuit claiming that British bank HSBC cost them hundreds [...]

Hey, remember HAMP? That’s the program that was supposed to help four million borrowers lower their mortgage payments and avoid foreclosure? The one that promised $50 billion for that purpose? The one that’s actually provided temporary relief for around 900,000 borrowers, used about 6% of the money earmarked, and also the one that’s been used [...]

We’re at a point in US history, brought there by Occupy Wall Street, where even Republican Presidential candidates needing a boost in the polls will vow to throw bankers in jail. I don’t expect that they’d actually do it, but this is what they feel they have to say to get elected. And that makes [...]

I was tied up with other matters this weekend, so couldn’t offer a take on S&P’s downgrade decision. Jane has done most of the spade work here. But I wanted to make a few points. First of all, if the rating agency’s entire argument was that the political system showed itself to be “less stable, [...]