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The current state of affairs is based on the integrity of the auditing process, i.e. on the laughable proposition that the combined professional ethics of bankers and auditors add up (or multiply out) to something we can all trust.

Cue LIBOR.

Cue Arthur Anderson (who?).

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II

by eurogreen on Mon Mar 4th, 2013 at 09:48:16 AM EST
True, but even if that were the case (bwahahaha, nice to laugh sometimes) there would still be a point in sharing it.

Because the systemic risk is linked to very rare events, and with very rare events, no single actor will ever have enough data, at any rate pooling should help us get a better idea (still imperfect of course -there will always be the super rare event that all the data in the world will not help to evaluate, but let's have as much as we can at least).

Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed. Gandhi

by Cyrille (cyrillev domain yahoo.fr) on Mon Mar 4th, 2013 at 09:59:01 AM EST
[ Parent ]
What I mean is, the necessity for a transparent auditing process is self-evident because it's a given that the banker and his auditor are pissing in each other's pockets.

Transparency is valuable not only for evaluating systemic risks, but to (smirk) keep them honest. And that, I suppose, is why the idea will never fly.

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II

by eurogreen on Mon Mar 4th, 2013 at 11:29:28 AM EST
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Well, if regulators see their role as preserving the nice I-scratch-your-back-you-scratch-mine arrangements, sure...

But maybe if there were enough political pressure things could change for the better (anyway the alternative is just complaining about how much worse things have become without any fightback).

Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed. Gandhi

by Cyrille (cyrillev domain yahoo.fr) on Mon Mar 4th, 2013 at 11:39:27 AM EST
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Heh... Arthur Anderson. I remember a time when they had their own elite check-in line at the Newark International Airport. Andersonians all carried those big briefcases with gold engraving; started hiding the name on them when Enron really began imploding.

'tis strange I should be old and neither wise nor valiant. From "The Maid's Tragedy" by Beaumont & Fletcher
by Wife of Bath (kareninaustin at g mail dot com) on Mon Mar 4th, 2013 at 04:58:07 PM EST
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