Richard Bowen

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

March 18, 2023 By Richard Bowen

Reflections of a Whistleblower – The Boom and Bust Cycles

Image of Richard M Bowen speaking at the front of the room with a still of Alan Greenspan speaking into a microphone on C-SPAN 2 behind him.

On Wednesday, March 8, I gave a talk on corporate ethics to the Corporate Governance business graduate course at the University of Texas at Dallas, taught by professor Greg Ballew. I noted to the class that, despite substantial evidence of wrongdoing, no banking industry executives were prosecuted in the last financial crisis. Because of this, I believe that the only lesson the banks learned is that no entity will hold them or their high-ranking officials accountable for future wrongdoing.

In the Q&A session at the conclusion of my talk, a student asked me about the possibility of another financial crisis, and I told the class that there was no doubt in my mind that our country would be going into another financial crisis, although I could not predict the timing or circumstances involved.

Little did I know at the time that the second and third largest bank failures in our country’s history would be announced that weekend!

In response to the last financial crisis, Congress passed in 2010 the Dodd-Frank Act which put into place too-big-to-fail restrictions on banks with over $50 billion in assets. And this week many people, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, are blaming the current bank failures on 2018 legislation which amended the Dodd-Frank restrictions to only apply to those banks with over $250 billion in assets (Silicon Valley Bank had $212 billion in assets and Signature Bank had $110 billion).

In 2018, when the revisions to Dodd-Frank were being debated, I wrote about a fascinating paper published by the International Monetary Fund, which analyzed the boom and bust cycles worldwide over the last 300 years. The paper clearly points out the demonstrated government regulatory cycles: following financial crises, we significantly increase regulations, and following financial booms we go through significant deregulation which is always followed by another financial crisis. The paper documents history proving that our actions and inactions can create a cycle of financial crises.

Obviously, the primary financial regulator, the Federal Reserve, did not properly monitor what was going on at SVB and Signature, and many blatant warning signs went unnoticed.

We are now entering another financial crisis, and I pray our politicians and government officials will finally learn the lessons proven by the last 300 years of financial booms and busts.


Further reading:

Elizabeth Warren: Silicon Valley Bank Is Gone. We Know Who Is Responsible. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/13/opinion/elizabeth-warren-silicon-valley-bank.html (may require a subscription)

Regulatory Cycles: Revisiting the Political Economy of Financial Crises https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2018/01/15/Regulatory-Cycles-Revisiting-the-Political-Economy-of-Financial-Crises-45562

What should you do before you report wrongdoing?

Tagged With: Bank Bailout, Bank Collapse, Deregulation, Financial Crisis

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

  • Citigroup to Facebook, it’s about powerCitigroup to Facebook, it’s about power
  • The Con Docuseries More Widely AvailableThe Con Docuseries More Widely Available
  • 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 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

  • Reflections of a Whistleblower – The Boom and Bust Cycles
  • 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

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 >>