NewsRack: newstrust/Business/Finance/Bailout

Wall Street is winning the long war against post-crash regulation | Heidi Moore - The Guardian -- World Latest

Heidi Moore — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Feeble as it was, Dodd-Frank was a high point of reining in abuses. Thanks to financial lobbying, it's business as usual Less than ten years ago, if a Wall Street trader wanted to find a sucker to buy bad mortgages, he knew where to find him: often, sitting in an office in a German landesbank in a small city, looking for a risky bets that would make him a killing. The German network of savings and loans – 2,000 state-backed banks, fattened over time by Germans saving around 12% of their income a year – were designed to make loans to local businesses. But starting around 2004, they started following the same dangerous path as the the tiny US savings and loans companies in the 1990s, which gorged on mortgage lending. The investment managers at the German landesbanks, usually unsophisticated compared to their sharper cousins in London and New York, became reliable buyers for risky, complicated mortgage derivatives . In fact, the Germans landesbanks and other foreign investors wanted to gobble ...

A.I.G. Drops Lawsuit Against New York Fed - NY Times: Business

By REUTERS — Thu, 30 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

A.I.G. Drops Lawsuit Against New York Fed

See How Citigroup Wrote a Bill So It Could Get a Bailout - Mother Jones

Erika Eichelberger — Thu, 23 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

On Friday, the New York Times reported on the front page that Citigroup drafted most of a House bill that would allow banks to engage in risky trades backed by a potential taxpayer-funded bailout. The Times notes that "Citigroup"s recommendations were reflected in more than 70 lines of the House committee"s 85-line bill." Special-interest lobbyists often play a role in writing legislation on the Hill, but such sausage-making is rarely revealed to the public. In this instance, members of Congress and a band of lobbyists have been caught red-handed, and Mother Jones has obtained the Citigroup draft that is practically identical to the House bill. As you can see in the side-by-side comparison below, the lobbyists for Citigroup really earned their pay on this job. The bill, called the Swaps Regulatory Improvement Act, was approved by the House financial services committee in May and is headed for a vote on the House floor soon. It would gut a section of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial ...

Isn't it time for Holder & Co. to go? - NewsTrust Yahoo Pipes Feed

rss@dailykos.com (brooklynbadboy) — Tue, 14 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Time to make for the exit. ...

Taibbi: Bankers Freak Out Over Brown-Vitter TBTF Legislation - NewsTrust Yahoo Pipes Feed

Wed, 01 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Matt Taibbi with some news that is making bankers very, very unhappy: Minds are changing on Too Big to Fail. A month ago, it was just something in the air. Now, it looks like we're headed for a real legislative confrontation. And man, is the finance sector freaking. Last week, on April 24th, Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Louisiana Republican David Vitter introduced legislation called the "Terminating Bailouts for Taxpayer Fairness Act of 2013 Act," or the "Brown-Vitter TBTF Act" for short. The bill is a gun aimed directly at the head of the Too-Big-To-Fail beast. During the Dodd-Frank negotiations a few years ago, Brown teamed up with Delaware Democrat Ted Kaufman to introduce an amendment that would have physically capped the size of the biggest banks. The amendment was bold and righteous but was slaughtered on the floor by a 61-33 margin, undermined by leaders of both parties – 27 Democrats voted against it. Brown-Vitter offers a different and, in a way, more ...

Business news briefs - Salt Lake Tribune

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 18:30:00 GMT

staff And News Services Published Apr 29, 2013 06:08PM MDT Chrysler profit down off 65% on shipments Chrysler said net income fell 65 percent in the first quarter as the automaker spent heavily and shipments fell to prepare for new models. Chrysler said revenue dropped 6 percent, despite an 8 percent increase in sales, indicating it is still solidifying its comeback from a government bailout and bankruptcy in 2009. J.C. Penney to get $1.75 billion in financing J.C. Penney confirmed that Goldman Sachs will provide it with $1.75 billion in financi... ...

DealBook: Chief of Unit Overseeing Britain’s Bailout Investments Resigns - International Herald Tribune: Business

By JULIA WERDIGIER — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 18:30:00 GMT

DealBook: Chief of Unit Overseeing Britain’s Bailout Investments Resigns

Lawmakers Take On ‘Too Big To Fail’ Banks In Bipartisan Bill - Think Progres

Travis Waldron — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Lawmakers Take On ‘Too Big To Fail’ Banks In Bipartisan Bill

Banking Regulation: Closed for Business - American Prospect

David Dayen — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 18:30:00 GMT

T hese are heady times for the bipartisan group of reformers seeking a safer and more manageable U.S. financial system. The leaders of this movement, Senators Sherrod Brown and David Vitter, introduced legislation yesterday to force the biggest banks to foot the bill for their own mistakes by imposing higher capital requirements. The bill would increase equity (either retained earnings or stock) in the financial system by $1.1 trillion and incentivize mega-banks to break themselves up, according to a Goldman Sachs report . Brown and Vitter previewed the legislation earlier this week at the National Press Club, insisting that the new regulations on risky mega-banks would diminish threats to the U.S. economy and prevent taxpayers from having to bail out banks in the future . Vitter also said the legislation would “level the playing field and take away a government policy subsidy, if you will, that exists in the market now favoring size.” With momentum, broadening support, and tangible ...

MF Global Bankruptcy Saga - New York Times (blog) - sarbanes oxley - Google News

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 18:30:00 GMT

MF Global Bankruptcy Saga New York Times (blog) If the C.E.O's failure to ensure the adequacy of the firm's internal control is not a violation of the post-Enron Sarbanes Oxley law, what is? But a spokesman for Mr. Corzine has dismissed, disparaged and denied the report's findings. Mr. Corzine has ... and ...

Rescued Fannie Mae posts record profit as housing market rebounds - LA Times: Business

By Jim Puzzanghera — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 18:30:00 GMT

WASHINGTON -- Bailed-out Fannie Mae on Tuesday reported a record $17.2 billion profit for 2012, driven by the housing-market recovery and a big settlement with Bank of America related to soured mortgages during the subprime boom.

Bernie Sanders To Lloyd Blankfein: 'Arrogance Has No End' Flashback - Crooks Liars

John Amato — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 18:30:00 GMT

I saw this video from 2012 over at Digby's and it's worth re-posting. Sen. Bernie Sanders was reacting to Loyd Blankfein's comments about how we must cut our safety nets because we can't afford them in his words. This is coming from another wealthy CEO-type that has racked in hundreds of millions of dollars of his own while accepting big bailouts from the federal government. Here's what he said to CBS: An interview with Lloyd Blankfein is as rare as a look inside the Goldman Sachs money machine. He showed us one of seven trading floors at his Manhattan headquarters. Goldman is one of America's most successful investment banks. It had net earnings of $4.4 billion dollars last year. When we asked Blankfein how to reduce the federal budget deficit, he went straight for the subject politicians don't want to talk about. BLANKFEIN: You're going to have to undoubtedly do something to lower people's expectations -- the entitlements and what people think that they're going to get, because ...

DealBook Column: A Bank Levy in Cyprus, and Why Not to Worry - NY Times: Business

By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Analysts were breathless waiting for impending disaster from the bailout in Cyprus. But nothing bad happened.

Citizens, Subjects and The Curse of Too Big To Fail Banking - Red State

() — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Celebrity CEO Jamie Dimon has made a compelling case against breaking up major US financial institutions. He cites the advantages inherent to economies of scale and claims that bigger banks are able to get better leverage out of their assets and thereby give average customers like little old me a better deal on financial products. What doesn’t get mentioned by Dimon and his entourage is the power of moral hazard, the implicit subsidy and the blackmail potential that all come implicitly with being a bank that is too big to fail. Without indulging in paranoia worthy of Beppe Grillo and looking for the Bankster under the bed, we still can make a reasonable case that bigger banks are given significant advantages that exempt them from the laws that mere mortals like little old me are forced to obey if we desire a peaceful ...

Bonuses: the essential guide - The Guardian -- World Latest

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 18:30:00 GMT

How did bonus culture develop, why is it controversial, and what is the EU doing about it? 1. The issue at a glance 2. Why is it being talked about now? 3. A brief history 4. The arguments (and who's making them) 5. Why is this debate mostly about banks? What about other sectors? 6. What are British banks actually paying out? 7. What are other international banks doing about bonuses? Does anyone not pay them? 8. What are the authorities doing about bonuses? 9. What else could be done? 10. What happens next? 11. How does any of this affect me? 12. Glossary 13. FAQ 14. In greater depth (the best other pieces on the subject) 1. The issue at a glance Bank bonuses have long been a cause of controversy but this has intensified since the financial crisis struck in 2008. There has been mounting public anger that investment or "casino" bankers, whose reckless risk-taking helped take the global financial system to the brink of collapse, are still taking bonus payments while the ...

In Shocking Bailout, NY Fed Lets BoA Off The Hook For Billions - NewsTrust Yahoo Pipes Feed

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Gretchen Morgenson of the New York Times had this little bombshell tucked into the business section Saturday: The Federal Reserve is still giving bailouts to big banks. Not only that, they're giving away billions in legal claims: The existence of one such secret deal, struck in July between the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Bank of America, came to light just last week in court filings. That the New York Fed would shower favors on a big financial institution may not surprise. It has long shielded large banks from assertive regulation and increased capital requirements. Still, last week’s details of the undisclosed settlement between the New York Fed and Bank of America are remarkable. Not only do the filings show the New York Fed helping to thwart another institution’s fraud case against the bank, they also reveal that the New York Fed agreed to give away what may be billions of dollars in potential legal claims. Here’s the skinny: Late last Wednesday, the New York Fed said in ...

Fair Game: Don’t Blink, or You’ll Miss Another Bank Bailout - International Herald Tribune: Business

By GRETCHEN MORGENSON — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 18:30:00 GMT

A deal involving Bank of America that came to light recently shows how bank bailouts have continued, even if in a much quieter form than in the depths of the financial crisis.

A Choice For Corporate America: Are You With America, Or The Cayman Islands - NewsTrust Yahoo Pipes Feed

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Senator Bernie Sanders : When the greed, recklessness, and illegal behavior on Wall Street drove this country into the deepest recession since the 1930s, the largest financial institutions in the United States took every advantage of being American. They just loved their country - and the willingness of the American people to provide them with the largest bailout in world history. In 2008, Congress approved a $700 billion gift to Wall Street. Another $16 trillion in virtually zero interest loans and other financial assistance came from the Federal Reserve. America. What a great country. But just two years later, as soon as these giant financial institutions started making record-breaking profits again, they suddenly lost their love for their native country. At a time when the nation was suffering from a huge deficit, largely created by the recession that Wall Street caused, the major financial institutions did everything they could to avoid paying American taxes by establishing shell ...

Banks and Government Agencies Still Can’t Get It Right - The Moderate Voice

ROBERT A. LEVINE, TMV Guest Voice Columnist — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Five years after the financial meltdown and nearly three years after the enactment of Dodd-Frank, the big banks and government agencies still can’t get it right. (Agencies include the Securities and Exchange Commission- SEC, Commodity Futures Trading Commission- CFTC, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau- CFPB) While these agencies try to formulate the rules and regulations under [...]

William Cohan: Bob Rubin's Washington reign reaches 20 years - Twincities.com: Opinion

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 18:30:00 GMT

We are fast approaching an important but underappreciated anniversary: Robert Rubin's 20th year of extraordinary proximity to political power in Washington. This is not a milestone to be celebrated.

A.I.G. Seeks Ability to Sue More Banks Over Mortgage Securities - International Herald Tribune: Business

By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:30:00 GMT

A.I.G. must win a court fight with an entity run by the New York Fed, which the insurer says is blocking its efforts to go after banks that harmed it financially.

Midday open thread - NewsTrust Yahoo Pipes Feed

rss@dailykos.com (shanikka) — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 18:30:00 GMT

The middle initial says it all. AIG, in the infinite wisdom of its Marketing aka Branding Department (because history suggests that one shouldn't credit the Board of Directors with that much sense), has elected not to join Starr International's derivative takings lawsuit against the feds , stating publicly that it will also use its standing under the securities laws to disclaim any claim that Starr contends it is pursuing for the benefit of the company. This commonsense decision came after nearly a week where, in a display of infinitely-rare political unity, armchair pundits (otherwise known as regular old American people) wearing both types of political striping took AIG to the rhetorical woodshed for even thinking about the idea of complaining about the government's saving AIG from imminent bankruptcy. This rhetorical asswhuppin' was doled out over social and traditional media, no less : Former Obama administration adviser Austan Goolsbee said "GO SCREW YOURSELVES" in a multi-tweet ...

Matt Taibbi & William Black on Bailout Secrets & the New Foreclosure Deal - Crooks Liars

Diane Sweet — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Four years after the massive bailout that rescued Wall Street, Democracy Now! looks at the state of the financial sector with Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi and former financial regulator William Black. In a new article for Rolling Stone, Taibbi argues the government did not just bail out Wall Street, but also lied on the financial sector’s behalf, calling unhealthy banks healthy and helping banks cover up how much aid they were getting. The government’s approach to the banks came under new scrutiny this week after it reached an $8.5 billion settlement for improprieties in the wrongful foreclosures on millions of American homeowners, including flawed paperwork, robo-signing and wrongly modified loans. The settlement will end an independent review of all foreclosures, meaning the banks could be avoiding billions of dollars in further penalties, in addition to criminal prosecution. Taibbi: "This is a longstanding dispute between the former CEO of AIG, Hank Greenberg, and the government. And ...

Wall Street thanks you for your service, Tim Geithner | Dean Baker - Guardian: Comment is Free

Dean Baker — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 18:30:00 GMT

First the treasury secretary propped up the big banks with public spending. Then he backed their agenda: cuts to public spending Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's departure from the Obama administration invites comparisons with Klemens von Metternich . Metternich was the foreign minister of the Austrian empire who engineered the restoration of the old order and the suppression of democracy across Europe after the defeat of Napoleon. This was an impressive diplomatic feat – given the widespread popular contempt for Europe's monarchical regimes. In the same vein, protecting Wall Street from the financial and economic havoc they brought upon themselves and the country was an enormous accomplishment. During his tenure as head of the New York Fed and then as treasury secretary, most, if not all, of the major Wall Street banks would have collapsed if the government had not intervened to save them. This process began with the collapse of Bear Stearns, which was bought up by JP Morgan in a ...

Top 5 Business Books of 2012 - Inc

Geoffrey James — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 18:30:00 GMT

The best (and bestselling) business books of this year were mostly about exposing corruption. Through most of the past decade, the most popular business books were "How I Did It" autobiographies of successful big-company CEOs, like Jack Welch's Winning . But that's no longer true. Rather than seeing big companies (especially in the financial industry) as percolators and role models, business readers now tend to view such firms as corrupt and parasitical, along with the people who run them. As a result, 2012 was the year of the exposé. Here are the best five of the year, IMHO. Twilight of the Elites In this book, author Christopher Hayes attacks what's arguably the most persistent myth in the business world: that the workplace is a meritocracy. Using examples from business, politics, and sports, he shows how and why power and privilege entrenches itself, locking out innovation and new talent. Full Title: Twilight of the Elites: America After Meritocracy Author: ...