Treasury Department

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Hurry, Mint That Platinum Coin
 Hurry, Mint That Platinum Coin 
Paul krugman
Jan 11, 2013 1:21 PM CST

Hurry, Mint That Platinum Coin

Paul Krugman: It's kind of a joke, but so is the current predicament

(Newser) - Despite facing plenty of blowback from wags, wonks, and politicos over the past week—such as Ezra Klein in the Washington Post —Paul Krugman is continuing his push for the $1 trillion platinum coin option to bypass the looming debt ceiling debate. ( Here's a summary of how...

How Iran Is Working Around Sanctions

Sticks to couriers, trading firms in other countries: US Treasury

(Newser) - Iran is managing to sneak around heavy economic sanctions using other countries' private trading houses, fake identities, and something called hawala, the US Treasury tells reporters. The sanctions have left the country "almost without recourse through ordinary banking channels," says a spokesman. So Iranian officials are in some...

Obama Will Pick Jack Lew to Replace Geithner: Source

He'll announce the pick tomorrow

(Newser) - President Obama will tomorrow name current Chief of Staff Jack Lew as his nominee for Treasury secretary, a source tells Bloomberg News . Obama has already offered the position to Lew, the source says. The move doesn't exactly come as a surprise; Lew, a former director of the Office of...

Quick Debt Ceiling Fix: $1T Coin
 Quick Debt 
 Ceiling Fix: 
 $1T Coin 
paul krugman
Jan 7, 2013 12:33 PM CST

Quick Debt Ceiling Fix: $1T Coin

Or, Obama could just raise limit himself

(Newser) - Think the whole debt-ceiling debate is silly? Paul Krugman does, too, and he's been pushing an admittedly "silly" way out of it. A legal loophole intended for making commemorative coins, he writes in the New York Times , could come in handy: Thanks to the rule, the US Treasury...

GM to Buy Back 200M Shares From Treasury

Move could speed up US exit from company

(Newser) - General Motors will spend $5.5 billion to buy back 200 million of its own stock from the US government in the next two weeks, accelerating Uncle Sam's exit from the automaker, the company announced today. GM will pay $27.50 a share, a 7.9% premium on yesterday'...

US Hawks Last AIG Shares, Pushes Profit to $22.7B

Treasury to bring in $7.6B in sale today

(Newser) - The US is getting ready to sell off Uncle Sam's remaining shares in AIG—and when it's all over, the government's bailout of the company will have resulted in a $22.7 billion return, the Treasury Department says. It's selling some 234 million common shares today...

We Could Fix Debt Crisis With ... Platinum Coins?

Bizarrely, laws restrict issues of gold, silver, copper, but not platinum

(Newser) - President Obama says he is " not going to play that [debt ceiling] game " with Republicans again. But how to avoid disaster if Congress doesn't raise the ceiling? It turns out the president has one ridiculously simple solution as an option—platinum coins. Incredibly, there is no legal...

US Selling Off $18B Stake in AIG

With sale, US will be minority shareholder for first time since bailout

(Newser) - The US government is selling another $18 billion in AIG, a move that will make it a minority stakeholder for the first time since bailing out the insurance giant in 2008, reports the Wall Street Journal . Four other sales since March 2011 have reduced the government's stake in AIG...

Feds Fume Over NY Attack on British Bank

Treasury Department, Fed pretty peeved over the move

(Newser) - Standard Chartered wasn't the only one caught off-guard by Monday's accusations from the New York Department of Financial Services that the bank had gone "rogue" and helped Iran hide $250 million in transactions. The Treasury Department and Federal Reserve were just as stunned by the charges, along...

Feds Checking Giant Gold Stash

 Feds Open Vault, 
 Double-Check 
 Giant Gold Stash 
in case you missed it
Aug 5, 2012 7:00 PM CDT

Feds Open Vault, Double-Check Giant Gold Stash

Auditors drilling into Uncle Sam's NY Fed holdings

(Newser) - Have Die Hard-style criminal masterminds made off with part of the world's biggest stash of gold? Probably not, but the federal government has been quietly double-checking its holdings in the New York Federal Reserve's vault anyway, the Los Angeles Times finds. The fortress deep below Manhattan holds close...

Debt Limit Debacle&#39;s Tab: $1.3B
 Debt Limit Debacle's Tab: $1.3B 
GAO report
Jul 24, 2012 9:11 AM CDT

Debt Limit Debacle's Tab: $1.3B

Treasury maneuvering cost taxpayers dearly

(Newser) - Last summer's debt ceiling showdown cost taxpayers at least $1.3 billion in increased borrowing costs, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released yesterday. Legislators' game of brinkmanship spooked investors, driving up the cost of government borrowing. It also forced the Treasury to perform some financial gymnastics,...

Treasury Officials Hired Prostitutes, Took Gifts

Inspector General report finds shenanigans at regulatory agencies

(Newser) - Treasury Department officials have been reprimanded for hiring prostitutes, golfing with the bankers they're supposed to be regulating, and taking improper gifts, according to inspector general reports spotted by the Hill that were published following Freedom of Information Act requests. Though the identities of all the perpetrators were redacted,...

Watchdog: TARP Profit Is &#39;Misconception&#39;
 Watchdog: 
 TARP Profit Is 
 'Misconception' 
SMALL BANKS STILL STRUGGLE
Apr 25, 2012 1:05 PM CDT

Watchdog: TARP Profit Is 'Misconception'

Hundreds of small banks struggling to repay loans

(Newser) - The Treasury Department tends to give glowing reviews to the TARP bailout, but the program's inspector general has a distinctly different view. "It is a widely held misconception that TARP will make a profit," writes Christy Romero in a new report to Congress, according to the Huffington...

US to Pay Indian Tribes $1B Over Mismanagement

Some disputes over land, resources more than 100 years old

(Newser) - The White House has settled with 41 Indian tribes to the tune of $1.023 billion in disputes over the federal mismanagement of trust funds and resources, reports Indian Country . Some of the disputes are more than 100 years old. It's among the largest financial settlements to Indian tribes...

Geithner: Obama Won't Ask Me to Stay

Treasury secretary says he's done after election

(Newser) - Tim Geithner is pretty sure he's going to be joining the ranks of the jobless after the election: The Treasury secretary—the longest serving member of President Obama's economic team—tells Bloomberg that Obama is "not going to ask me to stay on, I’m pretty confident....

Taxpayers Still Have $132.9B Stuck in TARP

Government trying to unwind stock without losing on the deal

(Newser) - The Treasury Department has had a tough time selling off some of the stock it took on in exchange for TARP bailout funds, meaning taxpayers are still on the hook for some $132.9 billion—some of which they may never get back, according to a report released today by...

Man Charged With Stealing $9.5M of Computer Code

Bo Zhang accused of pilfering Treasury software

(Newser) - A Chinese computer programmer has been charged with stealing software code worth $9.5 million while working at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Prosecutors say Bo Zhang, a Chinese citizen who worked for a technology firm contracted to work on code at the New York Fed, copied a...

White House Seeks $1.2T Hike in Debt Limit

Nation will need the extra money soon to pay bills

(Newser) - The Obama administration will ask Congress to raise the nation's borrowing limit by $1.2 trillion this week, marking the third and final increase from a deal negotiated over summer. Treasury officials said the increase is necessary because the government will be within $100 billion of its current limit...

Fannie Mae Needs Another $7.8B

Taxpayer bill for mortgage firm's rescue now $94B

(Newser) - In a sign that the US housing market is still in deep, deep trouble, Fannie Mae is tapping the Treasury for another $7.8 billion to stay afloat. The mortgage finance company posted a loss of $5.1 billion for the third quarter of this year, its 16th loss in...

Geithner Staying Put at Treasury

Will likely stay on through fall 2012

(Newser) - One piece of economic upheaval that won't hit the fan this weekend: A vacancy at the Treasury Department. After much gnashing of teeth, Tim Geithner has informed President Obama that he will stay on as secretary at least through next fall, reports the Wall Street Journal. Geithner had wanted...

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