Treasury Department

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Annoyed by Feds, AIG CEO Threatens to Quit

Benmosche, just 3 months in, is 4th CEO in 18 months

(Newser) - Just 3 months after taking the job, AIG CEO Robert Benmosche is threatening to storm out in a huff. At a directors’ meeting last week the voluble Benmosche, formerly of MetLife, told colleagues he was “done” with trying to operate the 80% taxpayer-owned company under federal supervision, particularly with...

Goldman Deal May Bail Out Fannie Mae

But letting superbank load up on tax credits could be politically toxic

(Newser) - Goldman Sachs wants to buy millions in otherwise virtually worthless tax credits from Fannie Mae, but the mega-bank is so politically toxic right now that the Obama administration is considering blocking the deal, the Wall Street Journal reports. “Treasury is reviewing and will not let it proceed unless it...

Get a Clue, Washington: You Can't Do Everything

Effort to restructure exec pay smacks of arrogance

(Newser) - Clamping down on arrogant, risk-taking execs with an overconfident attempt to overhaul private sector pay structures shows that the arrogance has migrated to the Obama administration, writes David Brooks. The government is trying to micro-manage compensation packages at a wide variety of firms when pay regulation should be done, humbly,...

Frank, Geithner to Roll Out 'Too Big to Fail' Bill

New rules will impose 'living wills' for banks

(Newser) - After months of negotiations, Congress and the Obama administration are ready to introduce new rules on financial institutions deemed "too big to fail." Barney Frank, who heads the House Financial Services Committee, will present a bill as soon as this week that will let the government seize...

50% Pay Cuts for Bailout Execs Due Today

Warren confirms cuts to 25 top earners at 7 companies

(Newser) - The Treasury Department today is expected to order seven companies that have not paid back last year's US government bailouts to halve their top executives' average compensation. The cuts apply to the 25 highest-paid executives at banks and other companies that received the most assistance, with salaries being slashed by...

Bailout Is Bad News for Savers
Bailout
Is Bad News
for Savers
OPINION
Oct 20, 2009 12:17 PM CDT

Bailout Is Bad News for Savers

Banks get trillions, fixed-income investors get screwed: Sloan

(Newser) - Not fed up enough with just putting your taxpayer dollars directly on the line to bail out the nation’s banks? Allan Sloan has latched on to some insidious “collateral damage” from the government’s rescue plan, those trillions spent “to keep interest rates down to support the...

Pay Czar Going After AIG Bonuses—Again

But legal hurdles loom for pre-bailout deals

(Newser) - Pay czar Kenneth Feinberg is making another run at AIG’s bonus payouts—or trying to, with the help of a little arm twisting. Feinberg doesn’t have authority over the$198 million in bonuses promised to employees at the infamous trading unit because the contracts were created before the bailout....

Broke al-Qaeda Pleads for Funds

Terror group seeks donations as US disrupts financing network

(Newser) - Efforts to cut off al-Qaeda's funding have been largely successful and the organization is now critically short of cash, according to the US Treasury. The group's "influence is waning" as the money dries up, according to one official who monitors terrorist financing, noting that al-Qaeda has already issued several...

Top Wall Street Execs Have Direct Line to Geithner

Treasury chief's calendars show frequent contact with big players

(Newser) - A look at Timothy Geithner's phone calendars show the Treasury secretary has maintained close ties with Wall Street executives he has known for years. Executives at Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Citigroup can reach the nation's most powerful economic official at will. While there's nothing inherently wrong with keeping tabs on...

Sleazy Middlemen Stiff Homeowners Trying to Refi
 Sleazy Middlemen 
 Stiff Homeowners 
 Trying to Refi 
mortgage meltdown
Oct 4, 2009 3:31 PM CDT

Sleazy Middlemen Stiff Homeowners Trying to Refi

Foot-dragging 'mortgage servicers' step into role of fox in henhouse

(Newser) - The federal mortgage modification program is mired in trouble, with just 12% of the 3 million eligible loans in the process of modification, the "servicers" that helped create the problem tasked with helping to untangle it, and the Treasury Department falling down on the oversight job. In one...

Treasury's Secret Formula Slows Loan Modifications

But one thing's clear: it favors banks, not homeowners

(Newser) - The Obama administration’s mortgage modification program has been a big disappointment, and part of the reason could lie in the invisible hurdle troubled homeowners have to clear to get their mortgages renegotiated: the NPV test. Devised by the Treasury, the secret formula is designed to determine if modification is...

Citigroup Wants to Repay Bailout, Cut Treasury Stake

(Newser) - Citigroup is drawing up a plan to get out from under the government’s thumb, the Wall Street Journal reports. The bank called the Treasury over the weekend to say it was looking for ways to scale back the government’s investment, outlining a plan in which it would raise...

Bank of America Ready to Repay $20B in Bailout Cash

But bank haggles with Treasury, Fed over fee for loss-sharing deal

(Newser) - Bank of America may become the latest institution to pay back a portion of its bailout money, with an eye toward escaping Washington's scrutiny of its pay packages. BofA isn't ready to pay back $45 billion in first-round TARP funds, the Wall Street Journal reports, but wants to start with...

US Reaps Profit as Banks Pay Back TARP Funds

Fed pulls in $14B from loan programs

(Newser) - When the government spent some $240 billion last year to help avert financial disaster, the idea of making a profit from the TARP funds invested in teetering banks looked like a long shot. Now, however, profits from eight banks who’ve paid back the cash have totaled some $4 billion,...

Dealers to Feds: Where's Our Clunker Cash?

(Newser) - The Cash for Clunkers program certainly isn’t breaking any speed limits, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association, which believes the government is sitting on millions of dollars in dealer applications waiting to be reimbursed. “It is ludicrous at this point,” says the group’s president. “...

Fed Holds Rates, Sees Economy 'Leveling Out'

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve has slowed its recovery-minded plan to purchase Treasury securities but said that "economic activity is leveling out," the Wall Street Journal reports. The Fed’s policy committee hopes to complete its $300 billion purchase of Treasury securities by October—originally slated for September—and also...

Small Banks May Need More Fed Aid

(Newser) - The Treasury may have to expand its toxic asset programs and repeat stress tests, particularly for smaller banks, a US bailout watchdog panel finds. While larger banks have begun to recover, smaller financial institutions remain exposed to billions in losses from outstanding commercial property loans and are still unable to...

Toothless Watchdogs Not Sure Where TARP Money Went

(Newser) - Anybody seen $700 billion? The government watchdogs charged with overseeing TARP spending don't seem able to answer even basic questions about where the money went, Chris Adams writes at McClatchy. A special inspector general, a congressional panel, and eight other inspectors general are supposed to be keeping track of the...

Paulson Still Dogged by Ethics Queries
 Paulson Still Dogged 
 by Ethics Queries 
ANALYSIS
Aug 9, 2009 11:28 AM CDT

Paulson Still Dogged by Ethics Queries

Ex-Goldman exec coddled firm as Treasury sec, critics say

(Newser) - As a former Goldman Sachs exec, Henry Paulson vowed to avoid any potential conflicts of interest when he was appointed President Bush’s Treasury secretary. But seven months after he left office, the nagging questions surrounding Paulson’s tumultuous term in office suggest he may not have succeeded, Gretchen Morgenson...

White House Weighs 'Bad Bank' Fix for Fannie, Freddie

(Newser) - The White House’s National Economic Council will meet today to discuss a drastic overhaul of beleaguered nationalized mortgage dealers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Washington Post reports. Among other proposals, officials are contemplating a “good bank, bad bank” split. Fannie and Freddie would dump their troubled loans...

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