Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, and Crain's all have news articles on the fact that, as Crain's describes it, "Tishman Speyer, led by longtime developer Jerry Speyer, is in hard-nosed negotiations with officials of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to rework an estimated $1.4 billion in loans. The Fed inherited the mortgages as part of the 2008 collapse and sale of Wall Street investment bank Bear Stearns Cos." What none of the four articles report is that Mr. Speyer himself is a former chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He's no longer on the board of the New York Fed and was no longer chairman when the Fed took over the loans. Current New York Fed board members include the president of Columbia, Lee Bollinger, and the president of the Partnership for New York City, Kathryn Wylde; Mr. Speyer is chairman emeritus of both Columbia and the Partnership. None of the four news articles report that, either. We're not suggesting that there's anything inappropriate going on. The articles seem to portray the Fed as being tough rather than lenient. Maybe the New York Fed will treat Mr. Speyer the same way a private lender that he had no special ties to would treat him. The only way to really make sure of that, though, would be to have the loan with a private lender rather than with the Federal Reserve, which is a government institution.
Jerry Speyer and the New York Fed
https://www.futureofcapitalism.com/2009/12/jerry-speyer-and-the-new-york-fed
by Editor | Related Topics: Federal Reserve, Press receive the latest by email: subscribe to the free futureofcapitalism.com mailing list