April 16, 2010 at 1:59 pm
The SEC alleges Goldman Sachs defrauded investors by marketing an investment backed by sub-prime loans without telling them that a big hedge fund was on the other side betting that it would fail — which it did. Law Professors Cornelius Hurley, a former counsel to the Fed Board of Governors, and Elizabeth Nowicki, a former SEC attorney, say the case is stunning.
Hurley: “Beyond the Goldman vice president charged in the complaint, how endemic to Goldman were these practices? Beyond Goldman, how endemic to this opaque industry, were these egregious practices?”
Nowicki: “Goldman had the obligation to be candid with the market. This is the antithesis of honorable conduct. No wonder most of Main Street is disgusted with most of Wall Street.”
Contact Cornelius Hurley, 617-353-5427, ckhurley@bu.edu
Contact Elizabeth Nowicki, 518-867-5355, enowicki@bu.edu
April 15, 2010 at 11:34 am
For the first time, tests of an artificial pancreas system developed by BU researchers have successfully maintained near-normal glucose levels in patients without causing hypoglycemia. The tests, conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital, were the first of an artificial pancreas using both insulin and the blood-sugar-raising hormone glucagon. Department of Biomedical Engineering Prof. Edward Damiano, who co-led the research team, says such a system could replace the need for type-1 diabetics to constantly check their blood sugar and make treatment decisions every few hours.
"It wouldn't be a cure, but it has the potential to be the ultimate evolution of insulin therapy for type-1 diabetes."
Contact Sue McGreevy at MGH, 617-724-2764, smcgreevey@partners.org; or Kira Jastive at BU, 617-358-1240, kjastive@bu.edu
April 15, 2010 at 11:05 am
Widening the insider-trading probe involving Galleon hedge-fund founder Raj Rajaratnam, federal prosecutors reportedly now are examining if a Goldman Sachs board member gave inside information about the Wall Street firm during the height of the financial crisis. Law Professor Tamar Frankel, an authority on securities law and author of "Trust and Honesty: America's Business Culture at a Crossroad," says Wall Street players need inside information to do their jobs, but they must not trade on it.
“Pay that person more in salary and perhaps bonuses, but allow no trading or any financial transaction. And if culture does not dictate such an abstention, the law should impose it.”
Contact Tamar Frankel, 617-353-3773, tfrankel@bu.edu
April 15, 2010 at 8:00 am
BU's Favorite Poem Project is hosting The Robert Lowell Memorial Lecture Series tonight which will include a poetry reading by Louise Glück, Dan Chiasson, Dana Levin, and Janet Foxman. The lectures will take place on the fourth floor of the School of Management building at 7:30 PM. The event will also include a reception and book signing.
April 14, 2010 at 4:28 pm
President Obama says he wants more regulatory control over the trading of derivatives, the financial products that helped crash the economy, and says the Democrats' efforts to re-regulate Wall Street will not lead to another taxpayer bailout. Former Federal Reserve Bank examiner Mark Williams, who teaches finance at the BU School of Management and is the author of "Uncontrolled Risk" about the fall of Lehman Brothers, says trading derivatives on an open market would actually strengthen the economy.
“The stakes are high for Wall Street versus Main Street. Keeping derivatives off-exchange means higher trading margins for a handful of Wall Street's banks but comes at a cost to market participants and overall market stability."
April 14, 2010 at 11:18 am
The International Monetary Fund recently endorsed the use of capital controls by governments to avoid asset bubbles. Now it's backing off a bit, saying such policies could cause distortions in domestic and international markets. International Relations Professor Kevin Gallagher, a specialist in globalization and development who has written about the IMF and capital controls in Foreign Policy magazine, says the IMF is waffling.
"On capital controls the IMF seems to be stuck making one step forward, two steps back. Capital controls are instrument to correct for distortions, not create them."
Contact Kevin Gallagher, 617-353-9348, kpg@bu.edu
April 14, 2010 at 10:11 am
In the wake of the plane crash that killed its president and 95 others, Poland will be staging a presidential election on June 20th. Though protests are growing over where the late president Lech Kaczynski will be buried, international relations Professor Igor Lukes, a specialist in Eastern European politics, says in a BU Today interview that he thinks it will be a civil campaign after so much heartbreak.
"I expect the presidential campaign is going to be more gentle and civilized, because in this tragedy, rivals are going to be less vicious. The [late] president and president of the senate despised each other."
Contact Igor Lukes, 617-358-1776, lukes@bu.edu
April 14, 2010 at 6:00 am
Lee Woodruff will give the 2010 Meredith E. Drench Lecture today at Sargent College at 5:00 PM. The talk, titled Life Changes in an Instant: A Caregivers Journey, chronicles the journey of Woodruff's family after her husband, journalist Bob Woodruff, was injured by a roadside bomb in Iraq. The critically acclaimed story has garnered national attention and brought to light the numerous soldiers returning from Iraq who are suffering from traumatic brain injuries. There will be a book signing and reception to follow the lecture. This event is free and open to the public.
April 13, 2010 at 1:29 pm
President Obama says nuclear terrorism is among the greatest threats to global security and that world leaders must destroy or secure stockpiles of nuclear materials. Verification expert Philip O'Neill, who teaches national security law at BU Law and is author of the just-published book "Verification in an Age of Insecurity," says the verification process must account for not only those who agree with the bargain, but those who don't.
"Only rarely have nations faced such security challenges in the past, and that history is not encouraging; we will have to do much better this time."
Contact Philip O'Neill, 617-951-2253, poneill@eapdlaw.com
April 12, 2010 at 3:30 pm
PDA pioneer Palm, creator of the Pre smartphone, reportedly is shopping itself and has hired Goldman Sachs to help find a buyer. School of Management Professor N. Venkat Venkatraman, head of the Information Systems Department, says a sale was inevitable as Palm has not been able to gain much traction with it's Pre beyond a small group of core followers.
"It may well be that Palm does not get a premium and that an acquisition may be attractive for the talent but not for hardware or software."
Contact N. Venkat Venkatraman, 617-353-7117, venkat@bu.edu
