Scared Monkeys Discussion Forum

...At a press conference last Thursday afternoon, Schäuble launched into one of his notorious lectures on sound fiscal policy in times of crisis.

But then, finally, he had an opportunity to air his frustration over the incorrigible banker caste. A journalist asked Schäuble about his response to recent comments by Deutsche Bank co-CEO Jürgen Fitschen. The previous day, Fitschen had accused Schäuble of irresponsibility and populism, because the finance minister had insinuated that the banks were still bypassing financial industry regulations.

 ::snipping3::

A handful of financial companies dominate the trading of currencies, natural resources and interest-rate products. Although millions of investors and companies participate in these deals, buy and sell, hedge their bets and speculate, these transactions are handled by an exclusive club of global institutions like Deutsche Bank, J.P. Morgan or Goldman Sachs. These are also the financial giants that determine the reference rates that serve as a benchmark for deals worth trillions.

The main profiteers of these deals write important rules of the game themselves -- and the events of recent weeks have shown that they often abuse their power in the process.

 ::snipping3::