Richard Bowen

  • Home
  • About
  • Speaking
  • Videos
  • Media/Press
  • Testimonials
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • +1-214-604-5492

August 11, 2016 By Richard Bowen

Are Regulations Killing Our Economy?

Are Regulations Killing Our Economy?
George A. Selgin, PhD, William K. Black, and C.K. Lee in studio for the filming of McCuistion Television.

The fourth of a six part series airing on the McCuistion Television Program, which has been focused on the 2008 financial crisis, “Have Dodd- Frank and Other Regulations Been Effective?” (watch it here), featured my  Bank Whistleblowers United colleague, William K. Black. 

Black McCuistion Pic

William, a white collar criminologist and former financial regulator as well as the author of The Best Way to Rob a Bank Is to Own One, was joined by: George A. Selgin, PhD: Director of the Cato Institutes’ Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives, Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Georgia and C.K. Lee, a former bank regulator, now  Managing Director,  Investment Banking, Commerce Street Capital. Jeb Hensarling (R- TX): Chair of the House Financial Services Committee gave his views via a prior taped interview.

McCuistion Selgin Pic

The diverse comments were unanimously not in agreement. Yet each one believes to some extent that regulations and the way they are enforced have set up a tyranny in our financial system which favors the big banks at the expense of community banks which are crippled with the cost of regulations. As Representative Hensarling emphasized, Dodd-Frank and other regulations are imposing huge costs on banking because of their complexity and volume.

Hensarling McCuistion Pic

C. K. Lee pointed out our challenges with regulatory overkill – Dodd-Frank itself is 19,000 plus pages and costs those regulated $35 billion in compliance costs alone! He believes that the Dodd-Frank act institutionalized the TBTF! And this from a former regulator!

Dr. Selgin agreed and asked how can regulations be effective when the problem is regulatory “institutionalization.” You can’t rely on government (read regulators) regulating especially when the same regulatory institutions are taken over by the banks they are supposed to be regulating.

Lee McCuistion Pic

William Black believes that there is a failure to discuss the real problems resulting in the dismal economic growth.  He states that the primary reason why regulations have not been effective are the three D’s which have been increasingly followed since the late ‘90’s: “Deregulation, De-Supervision and De-facto De-criminalization.” He used one example, pointing out that  the Federal Reserve  did not ban ”liars loans,”  even though they had the authority since 1994 and it was well documented that 90% of loans were fraudulent…until finally Bernanke banned them during the crisis, but  the ban was not effective until  November of 2009 – after the huge losses caused by them.

The regulations and their enforcement which were supposed to help our economy have actually hindered growth. We seem to have a conspiracy of fools at the helm! Change is called for before we step backward into the same quagmire that got us to 2008!

The McCuistion TV episode can be viewed by following the link here

Related Posts

What Really Caused the 2008 Financial Crisis?

Whistleblowers: Who They Are and Why You Should Care

The Elephant in the Room – Why no TBTF Prosecutions?

Can a Future Financial Crisis Be Prevented?
What Really Caused the 2008 Financial Crisis?

Tagged With: Bank Whistleblowers United, Financial Crisis, whistleblowers, William Black

Ethics on your mind? Subscribe to my ezine to get my latest article delivered right to your inbox. Click Here to Subscribe

Richard Bowen is widely known as the Citigroup whistleblower. As Business Chief Underwriter for Citigroup during the housing bubble financial crisis meltdown, he repeatedly warned Citi executive management and the board about fraudulent behavior within the organization. The company certified poor mortgages as quality mortgages and sold them to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and other investors.

Related Posts

  • Business Matters with Karl FitzpatrickBusiness Matters with Karl Fitzpatrick
  • Transparency, Integrity and the Institute of Banking Irish StyleTransparency, Integrity and the Institute of Banking Irish Style
  • What Really Caused the 2008 Financial Crisis?What Really Caused the 2008 Financial Crisis?
  • Whistleblowers: Who They Are and Why You Should CareWhistleblowers: Who They Are and Why You Should Care

What People Are Saying About Richard M. Bowen

William D. Cohan"Richard Bowen is one of my heroes. His is a story of human fortitude at its best and Wall Street at its worst."

~ William D. Cohan, NY Times Best Selling Author
2017-06-30T10:08:59-05:00
"Richard Bowen is one of my heroes. His is a story of human fortitude at its best and Wall Street at its worst." ~ William D. Cohan, NY Times Best Selling Author
https://richardmbowen.com/testimonials/2556/

Eileen McDonnell"Richard Bowen reinforced my motto that "there is no right way to do a wrong thing.” Long after his presentation, the conversation has continued about personal responsibility and the courage to challenge things that appear to be wrong. We encourage this dialog and rely on it to help make our business stronger."

~ Eileen McDonnell, Chairman, CEO, & President, Penn Mutual
2015-02-13T19:51:19-06:00
"Richard Bowen reinforced my motto that "there is no right way to do a wrong thing.” Long after his presentation, the conversation has continued about personal responsibility and the courage to challenge things that appear to be wrong. We encourage this dialog and rely on it to help make our business stronger." ~ Eileen McDonnell, Chairman, CEO, & President, Penn Mutual
https://richardmbowen.com/testimonials/711/

Ben Stein"Richard Bowen, you are a star and a hero."

~ Ben Stein, Economist and Political Commentator
2015-02-13T19:50:26-06:00
"Richard Bowen, you are a star and a hero." ~ Ben Stein, Economist and Political Commentator
https://richardmbowen.com/testimonials/712/

Jim Farrell"Richard's speech at the April Financial Executives International dinner was informative, interesting, riveting, and fast moving.  The feedback from members was overwhelming positive, and Richard received one of the few standing ovations given by our membership."

~ Jim Farrell, Program Chairman, Dallas Chapter, Financial Executives International
2014-12-28T19:48:17-06:00
"Richard's speech at the April Financial Executives International dinner was informative, interesting, riveting, and fast moving.  The feedback from members was overwhelming positive, and Richard received one of the few standing ovations given by our membership." ~ Jim Farrell, Program Chairman, Dallas Chapter, Financial Executives International
https://richardmbowen.com/testimonials/532/

Dennis McCuistion"Richard Bowen has been there, done that, and has the scars to prove it, and his message of corruption at the highest levels of industry and government needs to be heard. I only wish that more bankers had the courage that Bowen exhibits. He is not only one of the most talented bankers I have ever met, he has more integrity than all the bankers on Wall Street put together. If his former employer had listened to him taxpayers would not have had to bail out Citi for the third time in the last 30 years."

~ Dennis McCuistion, Host of the McCuistion TV program
2014-12-28T19:48:06-06:00
"Richard Bowen has been there, done that, and has the scars to prove it, and his message of corruption at the highest levels of industry and government needs to be heard. I only wish that more bankers had the courage that Bowen exhibits. He is not only one of the most talented bankers I have ever met, he has more integrity than all the bankers on Wall Street put together. If his former employer had listened to him taxpayers would not have had to bail out Citi for the third time in the last 30 years." ~ Dennis McCuistion, Host of the McCuistion TV program
https://richardmbowen.com/testimonials/533/

Betty Garrett"Richard Bowen is a dynamic, entertaining speaker and story-teller - a CPA with a great personality!"

~ Betty Garrett, Garrett Speakers International
2014-12-28T19:47:50-06:00
"Richard Bowen is a dynamic, entertaining speaker and story-teller - a CPA with a great personality!" ~ Betty Garrett, Garrett Speakers International
https://richardmbowen.com/testimonials/531/

fred-timmons"I believe Richard Bowen is the only keynote speaker to ever receive a standing ovation from the Texas Society of CPA’s at any of its annual conferences."

~ Fred Timmons, Chairman of The Texas Society of CPA's
2014-12-28T19:47:22-06:00
"I believe Richard Bowen is the only keynote speaker to ever receive a standing ovation from the Texas Society of CPA’s at any of its annual conferences." ~ Fred Timmons, Chairman of The Texas Society of CPA's
https://richardmbowen.com/testimonials/530/

Presentation Topics

Playing for High Stakes: The Principles and Practice of Ethical Leadership

Dark Citi: The Story of a Whistleblower

Want to Hire Richard?

Watch Richard

See What Clients are Saying

About Richard

Recent Posts

  • What should you do before you report wrongdoing?
  • Peace and happiness this holiday season
  • Wishing you a warm and happy Thanksgiving
  • Speaking at the University of North Texas
  • Resisting Corporate and Government Corruption

Categories

  • Business Ethics
  • Congress
  • Corporate Debt
  • Corruption
  • Ethical Leadership
  • Financial Crime
  • Financial Crisis
  • Financial Crisis of 2008
  • Fraud
  • Holiday
  • International
  • Mortgage Lending
  • Mortgage Meltdown
  • Relationships
  • Resources
  • Speaking
  • Texas Politics
  • The Fed
  • Too Big To Fail
  • Uncategorized
  • Updates
  • Wall Street
  • Whistle Blowers

About Richard

Now an ethical leadership speaker, Richard Bowen was Citigroup's Business Chief Underwriter during the housing bubble.

Read more

Connect with Richard

  Facebook   Twitter   Linked   YouTube

Contact Us

Phone: +1-214-604-5492

Email: Richard@RichardMBowen.com

Contact Richard

Copyright 2021© 2023 · Richard M. Bowen | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

X
Sign up to receive my blog posts via email!
Subscribe >>