Mr. Levin is alleging there were many inaccuracies in Douglas Brainstein's explanation of the big credit bets on an April 13th, 2012, public conference call. Here's the part of the call he is focusing on:
On April 13th, 2012, Mr. Braunstein said:
The result of all of that is we also need to manage the stress loss associated with that portfolio and -- so we have put on positions to manage for a significant stress event in credit. We've had that position on for many years, and the activities that have been reported in the paper are basically part of managing that stress loss position, which we moderate and change over time, depending upon our views as to what the risks are for our stress loss from credit. All of those decisions are made on a very long-term basis. They're done to keep the company effectively balanced from a risk standpoint. We are very comfortable with our positions as they are held today. And I would add that all of those positions are fully transparent to the regulators. They review them, have access to them at any point in time, get the information on those positions on a regular and recurring basis as part of our normalized reporting. And all of those positions are put on pursuant to the risk management at the firm-wide level.Mr Levin has so far gotten Mr. Braunstein to concede that not all the positions were long-term and the senator has raised doubts about whether the positions were "pursuant to the risk management at the firm-wide level." But Mr. Levin has gained a significant concession from Mr. Braunstein on whether regulators were getting information on the bets "on a regular and recurring basis." After tense back and forth, Mr. Braunstein said, “They did not get the detailed positions regularly.” To which, Mr. Levin replied, "I'll settle for that."