Banks Replacing Enron in Energy Incite Congress as Abuses Abound

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-02/banks-replacing-enron-in-energy-incite-congress-as-abuses-abound.html

The U.S. government permitted Wall Street firms to expand in the energy industry a decade ago, when the collapse of Enron Corp. and its army of traders left a void in the market. The results aren’t pretty.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) settled Federal Energy Regulatory Commission claims this week that employees engaged in 12 bidding schemes to wrest tens of millions of dollars from power-grid operators. A Barclays Plc (BARC) trader stands accused of bragging he “totally fukked” with a Southwest energy market. Deutsche Bank AG workers, faced with losses on a contract, allegedly altered electricity flows to make it profitable instead.

The FERC’s investigations are fueling a debate among lawmakers and the Federal Reserve over whether to reverse more than a decade of policy decisions that let Wall Street banks keep or build units handling commodities and energy. Senators examining the firms’ roles have said they may call bankers and watchdogs to a September hearing amid concern traders are abusing their ability to buy and sell physical products while betting on related financial instruments.

Banks have been seen as “sources of capital investment and market liquidity,” said Marc Spitzer, a partner at law firm Steptoe & Johnson LLP in Washington and a former FERC commissioner. “But the tradition and culture of large banks is different than the conservative and risk-averse culture of regulated utilities.”


***yes, i'm just sure those expressions of outrage, umbrage and what ever else are genuine

[hobbit709]

1. Enrom showed them how to do it.

the banks then took the scamming concept to new levels.

Until I see a banker get serious jail time in a Supermax prison, they wont' stop.

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2. +1