It's time for caucuses in Iowa. If sarcasm were a Presidential qualifier, I'm certain that my name would be at the top of the ballot.
JP Morgan is jumping on the blockchain bandwagon. All aboard! You all know I've trashed Bitcoin many times but the blockchain tech that succeeds it may be worth a look. The SIFI banks doing this will have to completely own their particular blockchain tech and disallow developers from forking it. They will also have to reserve a significant amount of data center space in case the hashes get out of hand. I suspect the world's central banks will have to standardize some part of a blockchain's code for money transfers. The whole movement risks turning into spaghetti code if central banks don't get involved.
China wants more foreign banks to trade its currency. It's a fun way to celebrate the yuan's new IMF reserve currency status. More importantly, it's a clever way to entice foreign banks to pump fresh currency into China so the PBOC can postpone the economy's day of reckoning. A stronger yuan means less PBOC money printing and less immediate stress on China's currency reserves. Have fun while it lasts, Beijing. The game will be up pretty soon. Foreign banks won't be happy to find out that empty real estate developments and shadow wealth management products are their currency trading counterparties' collateral.
The OMB is ready to review the US DOL's fiduciary rule for retirement advisers. Well, that sure took long enough. I blogged about this proposed rule in 2015 and I am all in favor of tighter controls. The industry's claimed concerns about stronger rules forcing them to drop smaller, less profitable clients are baloney. Automation is reducing the cost of servicing small clients to zero. Robo-advisers can implement fiduciary rules automatically. I want OMB and the rest of the administration to turn the screws on the retirement plan sector and make greedy brokerages howl with the pain of fiduciary compliance. That will force them to fire more humans and accelerate the automation shift.
May the most sarcastic candidate win. That would be me, of course, in any election year. Always vote your conscience, America.
JP Morgan is jumping on the blockchain bandwagon. All aboard! You all know I've trashed Bitcoin many times but the blockchain tech that succeeds it may be worth a look. The SIFI banks doing this will have to completely own their particular blockchain tech and disallow developers from forking it. They will also have to reserve a significant amount of data center space in case the hashes get out of hand. I suspect the world's central banks will have to standardize some part of a blockchain's code for money transfers. The whole movement risks turning into spaghetti code if central banks don't get involved.
China wants more foreign banks to trade its currency. It's a fun way to celebrate the yuan's new IMF reserve currency status. More importantly, it's a clever way to entice foreign banks to pump fresh currency into China so the PBOC can postpone the economy's day of reckoning. A stronger yuan means less PBOC money printing and less immediate stress on China's currency reserves. Have fun while it lasts, Beijing. The game will be up pretty soon. Foreign banks won't be happy to find out that empty real estate developments and shadow wealth management products are their currency trading counterparties' collateral.
The OMB is ready to review the US DOL's fiduciary rule for retirement advisers. Well, that sure took long enough. I blogged about this proposed rule in 2015 and I am all in favor of tighter controls. The industry's claimed concerns about stronger rules forcing them to drop smaller, less profitable clients are baloney. Automation is reducing the cost of servicing small clients to zero. Robo-advisers can implement fiduciary rules automatically. I want OMB and the rest of the administration to turn the screws on the retirement plan sector and make greedy brokerages howl with the pain of fiduciary compliance. That will force them to fire more humans and accelerate the automation shift.
May the most sarcastic candidate win. That would be me, of course, in any election year. Always vote your conscience, America.
