Position Papers

Where We Are Now - pdf
Changing the Quality of Existing Loans - pdf
Investment Banking Models and the Credit Crisis - pdf
Debt-for-Equity Swaps at the Residential Housing Level - pdf
Credit Derivatives and the Current Crisis - pdf
Federal Backstops and the Community Banks -pdf

WRH+Co and the Current Crisis: Our Thoughts

WR Hambrecht + Co has been involved in the far ranging discussions in Washington surrounding the various proposals that have been put forward regarding the meltdown of the credit markets and the impact that the crisis may have on Wall Street, Main Street, and in the community banking sector. We have long supported the principles of transparency, market pricing, and the use of auctions in the marketplace, and these ideas have been universally accepted as key components of the solution to the troubles that lie at the heart of our current situation.

Bill Hambrecht has been asked to provide background and insight on the many different aspects of the financial turmoil, and his thoughts are included above. We are actively working in the community banking space, an area that has been impacted directly by the tightening of the credit markets as well as the bursting of the real estate bubble. We are monitoring the government's response closely, and will continue to provide our insight and advice as events unfold.