Exile on Wall Street One Analyst's Fight to Save the Big Banks from Themselves

by Mayo, Mike

• ISBN13: 9781118115466
• ISBN10: 1118115465
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-11-15
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

In The Games that Bankers Play, star banking analyst Mike Mayo reveals for the first time the dirty details of his ongoing battle with Wall Street firms to come clean and proves that all the factors leading to the financial crisis -- dodgy accounting, the separation of risk from reward, outsized executive pay -- are still happening. From Citigroup announcing in July 2010 that it would increase its assets by 5 percent (which Mayo deemed near impossible) to being banned from speaking to media by Deutsche Bank in 2008 for his negative view of the banking sector, Mayo provides a glimpse into the true inner workings of Wall Street firms and claims it's just as bad today as it was pre-crash. He analyzes the regulation and fallout stemming from the crash and points out the holes that still exist in the system, particularly pertaining to the relationships analysts have with the companies they cover. In addition to outlining what he sees happening today on the Street, Mayo chronicles some of his most outrageous adventures: being escorted out of the building from Lehman in the 90s after giving notice (Mayo didn't understand that his analysis came second to supporing the firm's investment bankers and their deals); being let go from Credit Suisse after Mayo put a sell rating on the entire banking sector in May 1999; and being named the "CEO-killer" for asking CEOs if it was time they were replaced. To wrap up the book Mayo provides a solution to Wall Street's messy antics in his "ABC" system; "A" stands for better Accounting practices, "B" stands for Bankruptcy and allowing banks to fail when they can't cut it, and "C" stands for Capital, meaning companies should be required to keep more of their assets in reserve, reducing their overall leverage and giving them more of a cushion if (and when) their bets turn bad.

Author Biography

Mike Mayo is one of the top-ranked banking and finance analysts of the past twenty years. Mayo was the only analyst to testify during Senate Banking Committee hearings in 2002 on conflicts of interest on Wall Street, and in 2010, he testified again, this time as the first analyst to speak on the causes of the crisis. He has worked at Wall Street firms including UBS, Lehman Brothers, Credit Suisse, Prudential Securities, and Deutsche Bank. He currently serves as Managing Director at Credit Agricole Securities, which provides services in the United States for CLSA, a global boutique brokerage firm. In 2008, Fortune named him one of "Eight Who Saw the Crisis Coming."

Table of Contents

Introduction Watering Down the Wine	p. 1
"God's Work" at the Fed	p. 9
The Big Time-or Something Like It	p. 25
Exile... and Redemption	p. 45
The Professional Gets Personal	p. 67
The Crisis	p. 81
The Vortex	p. 97
Citi, Part I: A Long, Sad Saga	p. 111
Citi, Part II: The Plot Sickens	p. 131
A Better Version of Capitalism	p. 145
The Meaning of Life	p. 165
Acknowledgments	p. 177
About the Author	p. 179
Notes	p. 181
Index	p. 193
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