May you live in interesting times…

Bank of America, Citigroup, and other lenders with lots of deferred losses are facing an unusual situation. The UK is about to reduce corporate income taxes by one percentage point. Were taxes on earnings to be reduced in the US, then some of the biggest banks would have to book losses on their “deferred tax assets.” Citigroup has more than $50 billion in deferred tax assets, and Bank of America has another $30 billion.

The Fifth Third Burger. Approximately 4,889 calories and 299 grams of fat.

Fifth Third wants to open more branches in the Triangle, and they’d like to find a way to get a naming rights deal, too. Maybe they could follow on the success of the Fifth Third Burger, which is served at games of the West Michigan Whitecaps. It was the minor league concession of the year.

What is the connection between this burger and an account at Fifth Third?

• It is a minor league product
• It leaves you bloated.
• It has one and two-thirds (5/3rds) pounds of beef.

Hmm…Still, if they come into the Triangle, what should they offer to fans at Bulls games? Alert to the guys at Fifth Third – think pig.

The ratings agencies have taken an unusual approach to responding to the critics that say that their optimistic ratings contributed to the housing equity bubble. In the moments after passage of the Dodd-Frank bill, the ratings agencies refused to let issuers use their ratings. Never mind that the issuers paid for the service. The real problem is that investors expect a rating prior to buying any kind of security.  They are arguing that their ratings are merely opinions and nothing that investors should place any faith in for their decision-making.

The SEC will hold a forum to examine policy responses to concern about the role of ratings agencies in recent economic events. The forum will be held on April 15th in Washington, DC.

Many analysts have observed that ratings agencies were somewhat offbase in their assessments of the soundness of debt held by some of companies that experienced significant write downs in the credit crisis.

A significant point of discussion should ascertain how inherent conflicts of interest can be resolved.  In most instances (save for unsoliticed ratings) credit agencies are paid by the very institutions that they are rating. In a universe where the three dominant ratings agencies (Standard & Poor’s, Fitch Ratings, and Moody’s) compete for business, this leads to the potential for less-than-objective analysis.

Mood’s had Lehman’s debt rated at A2 prior to its collapse last fall. It had AIG’s debt rated at Aa3 prior to its bankruptcy filing.