Category: Structured Thinking

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Michael Bright Featured in American Banker Discussing the SEC’s Proposed Rule Prohibiting Conflicts of Interest in Securitizations

On September 12, SFA CEO Michael Bright was featured in an OpEd published by American Banker, discussing the SEC’s proposed rule, aimed at prohibiting conflicts of interest in securitizations. Bright emphasizes the unintended consequences the rule could have on financial markets, if it were adopted as written. Read Michael Bright’s OpEd here.

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Michael Bright Featured in American Banker on Impact of Financial Regulatory Agendas

SFA CEO Michael Bright was featured in an OpEd published by American Banker discussing newly proposed financial services regulations and the potential threat it could have on economic recovery.

Rising Inflation and consumer spending

Don’t Expect Lower Interest Rates Anytime Soon

By Michael Bright The U.S. Labor Department has steadily reported that lots of new jobs are being created each week. That’s good news – except for people who are hoping for relief from rising interest rates soon. The surprising strength of the U.S. economy, measured in part by job creation, likely will mean that the […]

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Spending Cuts Likely Are Coming in Debt Ceiling Deal

By Michael Bright The U.S. government is lurching precariously close to defaulting on the national debt. Unless Congress raises the federal borrowing limit early next month, the world economy could face a catastrophe. I am hopeful that sanity will prevail, and that Congress will act in time. To make that happen, in my view, President […]

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Keep Your Eye on Housing to Gauge Economic Trajectory

By Michael Bright Bad news is often good news when it comes to the economy these days. To wit, the U.S. economy grew by only 1.1 percent year over year according to the latest Commerce Department data. That is half of the nearly 2 percent growth that many economists had predicted and is down considerably […]

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Little-Noticed SEC Hedging Curb Imperils Banks, Financial Firms

By Michael Bright Published on 4/10/2023:  RealClearPolitics Full text also below. The massive bank failures in recent weeks were due largely to a lack of solid hedging strategies – an important way for financial institutions to handle risk. Despite that, the Securities and Exchange Commission is quickly and quietly implementing a provision of the Dodd-Frank […]

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SEC Conflicts of Interest Proposal Should Be Delayed

By Michael Bright The Securities and Exchange Commission has its heart in the right place as it moves to prevent transactions in which financial institutions bet against – or short – asset-backed securities that they also put together or underwrite. Such deliberate conflicts of interest, which caused the markets to shudder a couple times not […]

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Inching Away from Debt Ceiling Calamity

The debt ceiling debate echoes certain dynamics of the 2011 fight. Read SFA CEO Michael Bright’s perspective on how this time is different – and how compromise could be reached – as published in RealClearPolicy. Read more.

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Economic Soft Landing Still on Track

By Michael Bright The latest data lends credence to our belief expressed here that the economy is on path to have a light recession rather than a hard or tough one. The most important indicator was the Consumer Price Index announced during the week of February 13. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistic reported that […]

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A Hard Yes on a Soft Landing

The Federal Reserve is in the later stages of one of its most aggressive interest-rate tightening campaigns in decades. Even though the Fed woefully underappreciated the risk of inflation at the beginning of 2022, it has done an admirable job of catching up. Several signs suggest it is on track to achieve its stated goal […]