Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Purdy Crawford spills the beans -- Updated

What's going on in the ABCP imbroglio? What's the future of Canada's commercial paper market? What will happen to the $32 billion in frozen asset-backed commercial paper? And how can we make sure messes like this never happen again?

You can get the latest info from the horse's mouth today at 3:30 pm (I'm presuming that's Eastern Time; so 4:30 Atlantic time, and 12:30 Pacific) at the Globe & Mail website. Purdy Crawford, the retired Imasco CEO brought in to clear up the asset-backed paper mess, will appear live on the Internet to answer your questions and explain what happens next.

If you can't make it at 3:30 EDT, you can submit questions prior to the event, and check out the transcript later.

I will post a link to the transcript after the event.

Get more info on the event here.
Submit your question by leaving a comment here.

Read useful background information here:
Court strikes down ABCP challenge
In ABCP ruling, judges approve legal shield

Kudos to the Globe for arranging live interactive sessions like this. They build awareness and create dialogues that could happen no other way (since no sane person listens to talk radio any more).

UPDATE: You can read the transcript here. It's not much like a dialogue, after all: it reads more like a terse email exchange with someone who doesn't really want to say much. Still, it's a newsmaker caught in amber at a busy time, so you may enjoy.

I asked a big-picture question: What have we learned that might help us avoid similar fiascoes in future?

Crawford's reply: "I have committed to appear before the House of Commons finance committee to review what reforms if any should be made in this matter. At this stage, we have been working to complete the restructuring and have not focused on what the reforms, if any, should be."

History on the run, bah!
Read all 6 questions and answers here.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Go Purdy!