Daily Archives: 21 March 2023

Whitewash

Posted on by
Reply

It seems the Federal Reserve knew of the risks stemming from SVB management moves as long ago as 2019 [emphasis added].

In January 2019, the Fed issued a warning to SVB over its risk-management systems, according to a presentation circulated last year to employees of SVB’s venture-capital arm….
The Fed issued what it calls a Matter Requiring Attention, a type of citation that is less severe than an enforcement action. Regulators are supposed to make sure the problem is addressed, but it couldn’t be learned if the Fed held SVB to that standard in 2019.
…
Following the 2019 warning, the Fed informed SVB in 2020 that its system to control risk didn’t meet the expectations for a large financial institution, or a bank holding company with more than $100 billion in assets, the presentation to employees at SVB’s venture-capital arm said.

And:

Over time, the central bank issued numerous warnings to SVB, suggesting the bank’s problems were on the radar of the Fed, the bank’s primary federal regulator.

So, what was done by the Fed’s regulators in response to this string of noncompliances?

A central-bank review of its oversight of SVB is due by May.

Will those prior whitewashes be followed up with an official whitewash?

I’m not holding my breath over a favorable outcome, which IMNSHO would include, at the very least, the public firing for cause of the Fed regulator(s) directly responsible for SVB oversight and that individual’s/team’s supervisor. Pour l’encouragement des autres régulateurs.

Trademark Whining

Posted on by
Reply

Jack Daniels has a trademark beef in front of the Supreme Court.

Phoenix-based VIP Products markets dozens of novelty pet products, including the 18-inch “Bad Spaniels” vinyl toy shaped like a liquor bottle, advertised on its website as “Silly and Fun For Everyone!”

Jack Daniels summarized its beef:

Jack Daniel’s loves dogs and appreciates a good joke as much as anyone. But Jack Daniel’s likes its customers even more, and doesn’t want them confused or associating its fine whiskey with dog poop[.]

This is what a Jack Daniels whiskey bottle looks like:

This is what VIP’s Bad Spaniel chew toy looks like:

Jack Daniels thinks that toy, a dog’s plastic chew toy, looks too much like its own liquor bottles and that its customers would be confused.

It’s interesting and amusing—and maybe insulting its customers—that Jack Daniels thinks its customers would be so easily confused between a liquor bottle and a dog’s chew toy.