Back in 2004, the SEC passed the Bear Stearns exemption, which gave the 5 largest investment banks an exemption from net cap rules.
The five — Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns — were the biggest then.
Which leads us to this question: Who are the biggest 5 now?
JPM absorbed Bear and WAMU, BofA took over Merrill, Barclays picked up of the Lehman pieces, Morgan Stanley took Smith barnet off of Citi’s hands.
Where does UBS, Credit Suisse, Deutsche bank fit in?
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