Fed Continues to Subsidize the Bonus Class

I’m again relying on the Financial Time’s for this latest bit of no suprises here. The big question is when will the political class pull the rug out from under the bonus class?

Wall Street banks are reaping outsized profits by trading with the Federal Reserve, raising questions about whether the central bank is driving hard enough bargains in its dealings with private sector counterparties, officials and industry executives say.

The Fed has emerged as one of Wall Street’s biggest customers during the financial crisis, buying massive amounts of securities to help stabilise the markets. In some cases, such as the market for mortgage-backed securities, the Fed buys more bonds than any other party.

However, the Fed is not a typical market player. In the interests of transparency, it often announces its intention to buy particular securities in advance. A former Fed official said this strategy enables banks to sell these securities to the Fed at an inflated price.

The resulting profits represent a relatively hidden form of support for banks, and Wall Street has geared up to take advantage. Barclays, for example, e-mails clients with news on the Fed’s balance sheet, detailing the share of the market in particular securities held by the Fed.

“You can make big money trading with the government,” said an executive at one leading investment management firm. “The government is a huge buyer and seller and Wall Street has all the pricing power.”

Let me be clear that the Fed is not a government agency. It makes profits each year from services it provides banks and returns those profits to the Treasury. The Treasury uses the Fed as its agent for a few services but the Fed is a central bank, the bank of bankers. It is not part of the Treasury per se. However, even with that being said, this news continues to be disturbing. Wall Street is gaming the Fed because they can. These things are monopoloy/oligopoly behaviors and we have laws against them!

Barney Frank, chairman of the House financial services committee, said the potential profiteering may be part of the price for stabilising the financial system.

“You can’t rescue the credit system without benefiting some of the people in it.” Still, Mr Frank said Congress would be watching. “We don’t want the Fed to drive the hardest possible bargain, but we don’t want them to get ripped off.”

The growing Fed activity has coincided with a general widening of market spreads – the difference between bid and offer prices – as the number of market participants declines. Wider spreads enable banks, in their capacity as market-makers, to make more profit.

Larry Fink, chief executive of money manager Black Rock, has described Wall Street’s trading profits as “luxurious”, reflecting the banks’ ability to take advantage of diminished competition.

“Bid-offer spreads have remained unusually wide, notwithstanding the normalisation of financial markets,” said Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive of fund manager Pimco in Newport Beach, California.

Spreads narrowed dramatically during the years of the credit bubble.

Brad Hintz, an analyst at Alliance Bernstein, said he doubted that spreads would ever return to those levels, a development that could be pleasing to the Fed.

“They want to help Wall Street make money,” he said.

I’m trying to think why any one would want Wall Street to make huge profits by arbitraging what is basically government debt. Why, in the face of this situation, would Congressman Barney Frank make a lame comment like that? Any one have any suggestion? Read the rest of this entry »