Michael Lewis begins a recent article with, "In the run-up to the vote on the financial overhaul bill, the big Wall Street banks squashed an attempt by Senator Carl Levin to pass a simple ban on any form of proprietary trading." It would appear that the big banks were protecting their freedom; however, Lewis points out that recently "Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs all intend either to close their proprietary trading units or to sell their interests in the hedge funds they control." Which begs the question, why fight to save something you don't plan to utilize? Lewis offers a few ideas, but I believe he avoids another likely possibility.
