Although the banks have been raking in loan-arrangement fees, Edward Najarian, an analyst at Merrill Lynch, thinks that these have been partially offset by the loss of servicing fees on the older loans.
How can they be trusted to divvie up expenses which in many cases can accrue interest at client expense and fees, which are supposed to be covered by their contingency fee arrangement?
Here's the rub: These few behemoths have a cozy arrangement for swapping traffic free-of-charge among themselves--but they charge stiff fees for the very same service when dealing with smaller players.
Any reduction in fees arising from these arrangements must now be included in the expenses of the fund if the arrangement provides for a reasonably ascertainable fee reduction.