Global Banking & Capital Markets

One of the most interesting classes that I take this semester is the Global Banking and Capital Markets class with Roy C Smith, an ex-chairperson of Goldman Sachs and someone who has seen a financial crisis too many [and for no fault of his own] in his long and illustrous career.

In this class, we have talked about the various crises that have been seen in the current times. We discussed a wide variety of current issues in the financial markets, while discussing the fundamentals of capital markets and financial systems
- the downward spiralling mortgage markets
- the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddic Mac
- the unfortunate demise of Lehman Brothers
- the capital infusion in AIG
- the acquisition of Lehman Brothers' assets by Barclays PLC & Nomura
- the sale of Merrill Lynch to Bank of America
- capital raising by Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs
- the sale of WaMu to JPMorganChase
- the sale of Wachovia to Citi
- the subsequent renege and sale of Wachovia to Wells Fargo
- the downward spiral of Citi
- the fate of General Motors
- Troubled Asset Relief Program
- Federal Reserve and Ben Bernanke
- Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and his efforts
- Banking Failures in the UK
- Banking Failures in the rest of Europe
- Banking in China
- the benefits of Obama vs. McCain
- What it means to have Obama

This was one of the most informative and illustrative class that I have taken at Stern. It touched upon various developments in the current financial turmoil [or what Prof. Smith refers to as the financial tsunami]. A great course. Most definitely recommended.

Here is an article that Prof. Smith wrote in Forbes where he talks about the questions that he, as a professor, and his students [that is us] would have for the new treasury of the Federal Reserve, Mr. Geithner.

I hope that Mr. Geithner reads this article and implements some of the suggestions and answers the questions that the professor and his class have for him and the new administration.