US financiers' nostalgia for Timothy Geithner

A WEEK before Thanksgiving, Wall Street's top brass were forced to reckon with an entirely new sensation: nostalgia for their former overlord, Timothy Geithner.

Masters of the Universe who were gathered at Manhattan's Pierre Hotel on Nov 20 gave a warm welcome to the former US Treasury secretary. He was a surprise presenter to Rodgin Cohen, the Sullivan & Cromwell grandee who has been involved in most of the deals that created today's mega banks. Mr Cohen was on hand to receive The Clearing House's Annual Chairman's Achievement Award, an honour previously bestowed upon mayor Michael Bloomberg and the Federal Reserve's Donald Kohn.

The lingering applause Mr Geithner received from leaders of the country's biggest financial institutions could be taken as confirmation that he had gone easy on the industry when he was its watchdog-in-chief. That, however, would be too facile an interpretation. Mr Geithner's recent ovation was as much an indication that bankers feel the current regime doesn't have its heart in the business of financial regulation.