Senate Dems to Deny Buffett’s Derivatives Exception
Earlier today, we wrote about efforts by Warren Buffett's investment group, Berkshire Hathaway, to push for a provision in the derivatives bill that would've spared the company a financial hit.
Well, the latest reports suggest those efforts didn't succeed.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Senate Democrats are killing the provision lobbied for by Berkshire Hathaway, dealing a financial blow to the company and its $63 billion in existing derivatives contracts. Chairman Warren Buffett has long warned against the dangers of derivatives (complex financial instruments that essentially bet on the future price of a good), but when faced with a bill that would require companies to set aside significant capital when creating such contracts, he argued that the new rule should not apply to existing deals.
The Berkshire provision met resistance from the White House and the Treasury Department, both of which are hoping tighter restrictions will prevent future bailouts of derivatives dealers such as AIG, which struck many deals while lacking the capital to pay in case the bets went bad.
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1 comments
Norman Morley
April 26, 2010, 9:21 p.m.
Turns out that good old Warren is just the same as every other greedy individual in the financial markets. Stands to reason mow how his company always made money each year. I wonder if he pulled out of his published deal with Bill Gates in their philanthropic endeavor? I noticed that the hyped Malaria cure research is hunting bucks, so I guess that was all B.S. on his/their part just for the pics.
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