By The Editors 7/11/12 9:55am

opinion

It’s Called Free Enterprise

The City Council has decided that there are just too many banks on the Upper West Side.

As Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia might have asked, what’s next? Will the Council tell Starbucks to move some of its stores a little to the east, or north? Will the Council set a limit on the number of greengrocers in the neighborhood?

And why stop at the Upper West Side? Why not regulate for the entire city? Surely the Upper West Side is not so special, not so—dare one say it—elite that it is the only neighborhood deserving of special protections against banks, coffee shops, greengrocers, fast-food joints and other such grievous assaults on urban life. Read More

By The Editors 8:00am

opinion

Mr. Schneiderman and the Banks

The Obama administration wants to reach a broad settlement with some of the nation’s banks over some sketchy foreclosure practices they have allegedly engaged in during the past few years. But New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is resisting pressure from Washington to sign on to the proposed settlement. He and several colleagues argue that the settlement would make it more difficult for them to prosecute banks suspected of wrongdoing.

Mr. Schneiderman’s position is admirable. If he believes the settlement is not in the best interests of New York consumers, he should continue to resist. Read More

By Mike Taylor 10/15/10 12:11pm

Morning Roundup: Foreclosure Follies Foil Financial Firms

  • Wall Street has woken up to the idea that the foreclosure crisis could force banks to modify huge amounts of loans, and stalled evictions could hamper payments to bondholders. The stock market has begun to act accordingly. [WSJ]
  • On a related note, according to the credit-default-swaps market, Bank of America is no longer Read More

By Mike Taylor 10/04/10 5:53pm

The Many Ways Banks Have Illegally Foreclosed on Borrowers

On the front page of today’s New York Times, Gretchen Morgenson describes the dizzying heights of incompetence and fraudulence at the core of a rising tide of “improperly handled” foreclosure proceedings initiated by some of the nation’s biggest lenders. JPMorgan Chase, GMAC Mortgage and Bank of America have all launched investigations into crummy paperwork that Read More