“The events of the past months have shaken the foundation of our global financial system,” [John] Mack told Congress in February. “And they’ve made clear the need for profound change to that system. At Morgan Stanley, we’ve dramatically brought down our leverage, increased transparency, reduced our level of risk and made changes to how we pay people.”
He continued: “We didn’t do everything right. Far from it. And make no mistake: As the head of this firm, I take responsibility for our performance.”
Well, it’s a start. But there can be no restoration of confidence in the banking system ”” and therefore no hope for an economic recovery ”” until Wall Street comes clean.
If the executives responsible for what happened won’t step forward on their own, perhaps a subpeona-wielding panel along the lines of the 9/11 commission can be created to administer a little truth serum.
I think there is a gleam of hope in all the storm clouds. There are those in high places that are saying “whoa” to just handing over gobs of money to any institution without looking for more evidence, facts and figures, of how they plan to use it.