Great Taking Report

The Great Taking Report is an in-depth legal and economic analysis of the financial service industry’s use of client securities as collateral, development within the financial money markets and the broader unrecognized risk this creates to produce a global financial crisis . A well-documented multi-decade lobbying effort by the financial services industry has made important changes to securities and bankruptcy law has granted GSIB “to big to fail’ banks super priority to take client securities in the next financial crisis. This diminution of the property rights of individual and institutional investors alike needs broader recognition and to be reformed.

The widespread unfettered use of client securities has produced an alarming bubble in the derivatives market, that combined with the centralized clearing of derivatives through Central Clearing Counterparties (CCPs) exacerbates the likelihood of a financial crisis. The
rise of the repo market as the primary money market between banks has a historical
parallel to the margin loans that led to the 1929 crash.

The first 5 reports documents these issues in detail, referencing primary source documents and the remaining 5 reports analyses the level of collateral integration by jurisdiction globally
(North & South America, Europe, CIS countries and Asia). Chapters 1 – 5 are available individually and the full report includes the jurisdictional overview.