Lehman

[jsmithsen]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f3cdb26e-2e09-11df-b85c-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1

But it also sheds a damning light on the inner workings of Wall Street – or at least that part of Wall Street that was hell-bent on juicing profits and hiding losses during the boom that led to the crisis.

The report singles out Lehman as one of the last Wall Street institutions to engage in “repo” deals aimed at moving assets off its balance sheet. But the fact that it was able to find willing counterparties in the US and Europe that would, albeit unwittingly, help Lehman misrepresent its financial position will dishearten many observers, even if regulatory reforms now under way aim to clean up the most egregious pre-crisis practices.

“I almost threw up when I read the report,” a senior Wall Street executive said on Friday. “It makes me sick of this industry.”

[metapunditedgy]

1. Then after the interview, the exec comped his $500 lunch on his company card,

and spent the afternoon waddling around a golf course, talking with his management team about how they were going to split the bonus pool this coming quarter.

[jsmithsen]

2. Fair enough

Nonetheless, there isn't a lot of government-bashing at the FT these days.

[upi402]

3. Dylan Ratigan covered this wonderfuly

Trading a garbage can 'off the books' for loan shark cash 'on the books' during an audit.

Now I'm not even able to recall the present value formula, but this seems wrong even to the garbage can in the deal.

[metapunditedgy]

4. And then *AFTER* the crash, didn't they institutionalize this by suspending

"mark to market?" You can value your toxic assets at "whatever you think is fair." If you're a big bank with lobbyists, that is.