banking industry

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Goldman May Break Charter to Duck Pay Rules

Investors see financial giant shedding year-old bank status

(Newser) - With the Federal Reserve busily drafting rules to limit pay for bank executives, some investors believe Goldman Sachs will simply stop being a bank, Reuters reports. By shedding its year-old commercial banking charter, acquired in the heat of the financial meltdown to ensure access to credit, Goldman could elude restrictions...

FDIC Fund Falls to $10.4B as Banks Struggle

Government will likely have to charge bank fees to replenish it

(Newser) - The FDIC's fund for protecting bank deposits fell in June to just $10.4 billion—the lowest balance since the savings and loan crisis—all but ensuring that the government will have to levy new fees on banks to replenish it, the Wall Street Journal reports. The fund topped $45....

Despite Obama Push, Banks Often Prefer Foreclosing

(Newser) - There’s a big problem with government efforts to keep delinquents in their homes by modifying mortgages: Banks would usually rather foreclose, economists tell the Washington Post. Lenders are only interested in modification for the small group of borrowers who will keep paying only if they get help. For those...

Dimon: DC's New Favorite Banker

JPMorgan CEO ingratiates himself with Washington

(Newser) - As the nation's financial center shifted from Wall Street to Pennsylvania Avenue, one man managed both to keep his bank afloat and emerge from a toppled industry with credibility in the White House. In a lengthy profile of Jamie Dimon, the New York Times takes a look at the JPMorgan...

Goldman's Gains Are America's Losses
 Goldman's Gains Are America's Losses 
OPINION
Jul 17, 2009 10:01 AM CDT

Goldman's Gains Are America's Losses

Record earnings show Wall Street behavior hasn't changed

(Newser) - Goldman Sachs’ record profits are good for the firm and “bad for America,” writes an irate Paul Krugman in the New York Times. With unemployment soaring, we’re seeing that “Wall Street’s bad habits” haven’t changed, and the government has actually made another crisis more...

Bank of America, Citigroup Post Ugly Wins
Bank of America, Citigroup Post Ugly Wins
Earnings
Jul 17, 2009 9:22 AM CDT

Bank of America, Citigroup Post Ugly Wins

(Newser) - Bank of America and Citigroup both posted estimate-topping profits today, but neither inspired much confidence, the New York Times reports. Both numbers hinged on one-time gains from asset sales. In Bank of America’s case, earnings fell 5.5% to $3.22 billion, a number propped up by the sale...

Troubled Banks Have a New Benefactor: You

Industry hikes fees on checking accounts, overdraft transactions

(Newser) - Your children aren’t the only ones who think you’re an ATM: Your bank does, too. Facing declining revenues and smacked with tough, new credit card legislation from Congress, banks are hiking overdraft, ATM, and checking account fees, the Washington Post reports. The average bounced check fee rose 2....

Obama's Bank Plan Punts on Tough Parts
Obama's Bank Plan Punts on Tough Parts
OPINION
Jun 19, 2009 7:48 AM CDT

Obama's Bank Plan Punts on Tough Parts

Krugman, Pearlstein agree: It doesn't address key problems

(Newser) - Barack Obama knows what caused the financial crisis, but his regulatory plan “basically punts on the question of how to keep it from happening all over again,” writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times. Obama’s plan takes the crucial step of regulating the “shadow banking”...

On Financial Reforms, Obama Is No FDR
On Financial Reforms, Obama Is No FDR
OPINION
Jun 18, 2009 12:02 PM CDT

On Financial Reforms, Obama Is No FDR

Proposed regulatory fixes don't actually fix much: Nocera

(Newser) - President Obama is hardly living up to the hype on fiscal regulatory reform, and he's not matching Franklin Roosevelt, either. When FDR reformed financial regulation, he transformed the industry, cheerfully making enemies in the process. Obama has been timid by comparison, writes Joe Nocera of the New York Times: “...

Obama Vows 'Light Touch' in Bank Regulation
Obama Vows 'Light Touch' in Bank Regulation
INTERVIEW
Jun 17, 2009 6:07 AM CDT

Obama Vows 'Light Touch' in Bank Regulation

Oversight measures aim for 'minimum' to avoid meltdown

(Newser) - Today Barack Obama will announce a major financial reform package that will give the Fed, Treasury, and FDIC new powers of regulation and oversight. It's the most substantial shift in financial regulations since the 1930s—but stops short of some of the most radical proposals, including tough limits on derivatives...

Dow Off 1 on TARP Repayment
 Dow Off 1 on TARP Repayment 
MARKETS
Jun 9, 2009 3:14 PM CDT

Dow Off 1 on TARP Repayment

(Newser) - The market was mixed today after the government announced TARP repayment plans, the Wall Street Journal reports. Oil surged past $70 a gallon, and the transport industry saw declines. The Nasdaq rose on hopes that electronics retail is picking up. The Dow was off 1.43 to 8,763.06....

White House Plans Unified Banking Regulator

New agency would replace hodgepodge of regulators blamed for financial crisis

(Newser) - The Obama administration is working on plans to create a single agency to do the work of the mishmash of regulators who failed to see the financial crisis coming, the Wall Street Journal reports. The new agency, which may be proposed to Congress next month, would strip powers from the...

New Credit Card Rules Could Trim $10B From Industry Coffers

Law dials back crucial fees, interest rates

(Newser) - A law President Obama is expected to sign today bringing new consumer-friendly rules on credit cards could cost the industry $10 billion in revenue, the Wall Street Journal reports. The legislation, which dials back various fees and interest rates, will devastate companies that target consumers with checkered credit histories and...

Geithner: Pay Changes Ahead for Bank Execs

(Newser) - The Obama administration intends to push for “very, very substantial change,” in the way Wall Street pays executives, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner tells Bloomberg. “I don’t think we can go back to the way it was,” he said, arguing that the current big-bonus status quo...

House OKs Credit Card Bill; Obama Up Next

(Newser) - Congress has sent President Obama a bill with sweeping new rules for the credit-card industry that will affect just about every American. The House approved the measure this afternoon, 361-64. The Senate OK'd it yesterday, 90-5. The new restrictions will protect debt-ridden consumers from many of the surprise charges common...

Banks Use Worker Life Insurance to Pay Exec Bonuses

Dead employees keep on giving

(Newser) - Former employees of the big banks often end up handing the bosses a final reward when the workers die, the Wall Street Journal reports. The banks have taken out life insurance policies on hundreds of thousands of workers, and the tax-free death benefits are used to finance executive compensation and...

Banks Lowball Taxpayers on TARP Payback
Banks Lowball Taxpayers on TARP Payback
ANALYSIS
May 19, 2009 10:55 AM CDT

Banks Lowball Taxpayers on TARP Payback

Feds hold stake after emergency loans, and could profit by waiting

(Newser) - US banks are eager to repay their TARP money, but doing so might rob taxpayers of the upside they were originally promised, the New York Times reports. In exchange for emergency loans, the government got 10-year warrants to buy stock in the banks. If repaid, it must sell those warrants....

Bernanke: Risks Remain Despite Stress Tests

But Fed chief is encouraged by bank response

(Newser) - Big banks' response to "stress tests" has been encouraging but they will need to watch out for risks not covered by the tests, Ben Bernanke warned regulators yesterday. The Fed chief—signaling that investment giants like Goldman Sachs can expect tighter scrutiny—said banks should self-test for potentially disastrous...

Under Pressure, Fed Cooked Some Stress Test Results

(Newser) - In the wake of reports that complaining banks cajoled the Federal Reserve into sweetening some stress test results, the Wall Street Journal looks at the hard numbers. Citigroup, for example, was originally supposed to raise $35 billion; the number eventually released was $5.5 billion. The total for Bank of...

Bank Wrangling Softened Stress Test Results

Fed massaged some figures to portray banks as healthy

(Newser) - Some major banks managed to cajole the government into using more optimistic figures in its "stress test" results, insiders tell the Washington Post.  Banks like Citigroup—eager to show they were healthy and didn't need more help from the government—were given credit for pending moves to raise...

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