LyrArc Article Gist
Mark Branson is a 44 year old citizen of Britain, who is head of the division in charge of supervising banks at the Swiss Financial Markets Supervisory Authority, Finma. He headed the UBS bank operations in Japan at the time when traders there were engaging in manipulating the LIBOR rate. This has raised questions in the Swiss parliament about the integrity of the Swiss regulator.

LyrArc Article Gist
Before taking up the job of enforcement chief at the SEC, Robert Khuzami spent five years running the U.S. legal division of Deutsche Bank. In that job he worked with lawyers who advised on the collaterized debt obligations issued by the bank, and the details to be disclosed to investors. Like Goldman, Deutsche Bank has faced alllegations of not disclosing the proper information for its CDO's. Before joining Deutsche Bank, Khuzami was a prosecutor in the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan for 11 years.

LyrArc Article Gist
The appointment of a idealistic reformer and civic campaigner against government corruption to the post of Finance Minister by Yukio Hatoyama shows the desire of Hatoyama to bring control over the country's bureaucratic structures.

LyrArc Article Gist
The widespread popularity in Japan of former Osaka governor, and current Mayor, Toru Hashimoto, at a time when each of the two major political parties have no more than 20% support. His effort is to shake up the staus quo, saying what is needed is "creative destruction, to dismathle everything and start from scratch." Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's standing, as was the case for previous prime ministers, is low in opinion polls. Hashimoto has pushed through spending cuts in Osaka by reducing the salaries of overpaid bus drivers and other workers. He brings fresh ideas but critics say he would centralize decisionmaking if elected, and the party is too focussed on one leader's views and personality.

LyrArc Article Gist
Senator Warren says weak leadership at the S.E.C. is the reason for the lack of effective enforcement and lack of prosecution of individuals for financial wrongdoing.

LyrArc Article Gist
Brian Sack joined the New York Fed in 2009 and became the head of the markets group. In this position he managed the expansion of the Fed's securities portfolio first in the early days of the fianncial crisis, and then under QE 1 and Operation Twist to its current level of $2.6 trillion. He has a PhD. from MIT and has co-authored papers with Fed chairman Ben Bernanke. Sacks is now leaving this position at the Fed.

LyrArc Article Gist
Theo Lubke was head of the Financial Infrastructure Department in the Banking Supervision Group, and was a key member working for reforms in the derivatives market. He oversaw efforts at the Fed to have Wall Street centrally clear trades in credit default swaps, which helps control the risk of a firm's failure. Lubke will join Goldman Sachs as a managing director in the securities division, and will help Goldman implement the facets of regulatory reform legislation. Prior to his 15 years at the New York Fed, Lubke worked on the staff of the National Economic Council under President Clinton, and worked as an investment-banking analyst at Lehman Brothers.

LyrArc Article Gist
Lack of individual accountability has been a defining feature of large U.S. Justice Department legal settlements with banks and other corporate entities since 2009. This WSJ editorial says establishing individual accountability where wrongdoing has happened is something it has consistently called for since 2009, especially as establishing this would reduce the unnecessary burden imposed on shareholders and employees who may have had nothing do to with the wrongdoing.

LyrArc Article Gist
U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Yellen launches a sweeping review of practices for supervision of large banks in Nov. 2014. The review is designed to check "whether there are adequate methods for decisionmakers to obtain all necessary information to make supervisory assessments and determinations," and whether channels exist for decision makers to take into account divergent views when important issues arise. This is in response to questions about how the culture at the New York Federal Reserve may have stifled differing opinions on how banks should be supervised and what is proper information sharing between regulators and banks.

LyrArc Article Gist
Unstable politics and government in Japan as three prime ministers from the DPJ party are followed by Shinzo Abe of the LDP party.

LyrArc Article Gist
Shinzo Abe and the LDP won a landslide victory in Japan's Dec. 2012 elections. Shinzo Abe was the first prime minister of Japan born during the post war period when he became prime minister in 2006. He is less influenced by the legacy of the pre-war period and war period. Abe is the grandson of Nobusuke Kishi, Commerce and Industry minister during the war, and prime minister when Japan signed the security treaty with the U.S. in 1960. His father was foreign minister, making him one of the rare politicians with a deep family history in Japan's government. Their views also influenced his own. Kishi is committed to changing Article 9 in Japan's constitution which limits the role of the military, and renounces the right to wage war. His 2006 book "Toward a Beautiful Nation," describes some of his views.

LyrArc Article Gist
The S.E.C.'s failure to build a deterrent against future reckless financial activities- that damages the financial system and hurts the public interest- through effective enforcement. Efforts to rebuild its reputation under S.E.C. chief Mary Jo White.

LyrArc Article Gist
Mary Schapiro, head of the U.S. S.E.C., joins Promontory Financial, a consulting firm set up by former Comptroller of the Currency managers to act as a "bank doctor" for banks that expect to face regulatory scrutiny from government regulatory agencies. In one settlement for mortgage debt which banks settled for $9.3 billion, Promontory Financial was paid $2 billion, according to this WSJ report.

LyrArc Article Gist
The LDP's landslide victory in the Dec. 2012 elections is not seen as a mandate for Shinzo Abe, the new LDP prime minister. Abe acknowledged this when he said: "We recognize that this was not a restoration of confidence in the Liberal Democratic Party, but a rejection of three years of incompetent rule by the Democratic Party." The LDP won 294 seats compared to the 308 seats won in the landslide win by the Democratic Party of Japan three years ago. Abe campaigned on a stronger stance in Japan's disputes with China. Yet he is committed to maintaining relations with China, a key trading partner. On China Abe says: "Our goal is to stop China from making these challenges, but we do not intend to allow an overall worsening in relations." Osaka Mayor Hashimoto's Japan Restoration Party was expected to do well but his campaign lost momentum after joining with Shintaro Ishihara, a nationalist politician. The Tomorrow Party which campaigned on the nuclear issue and anti-nuclear sentiment petered out after voters sensed the impact of electrical shortages and prices. The LDP is pro-nuclear and plans to reverse some of the anti-nuclear steps taken by the DPJ. The Democratic Party of Japan gained only 57 seats, and the former DPJ prime minister during the earthquake and tsunami, Naoto Kan, lost his parliamentary seat. Just as the PRI, a party that held a long monopoly of power was returned to power in Mexico in 2012, the LDP is returning to power, but very dependent on voters aspirations for good governance and its performance in office....