Sustainability| More...
 

Treasury

TARP Failures Keep Taxpayers On The Hook; 33 Companies Miss Payment

Posted 11.16.2009 | Business

Read More: Tarp, White House, TARP Money, Lending, Economy, Bailouts, Regulation, Obama, Taxpayers, Recession, Wall Street, Bailout, Fed, Treasury, Banks, Citigroup, Cit, Business News

According to The Washington Post, 33 companies that received a portion of TARP's $700 billion have not paid the federal government their most recent d...

Read Whole Story

Why Sen. Dodd's Opposition to the Federal Reserve is Ill-Conceived

Georges Ugeux | Posted 11.13.2009 | Politics

Read More: Tarp, John McCain, Congress, Fdic, Hank Paulson, Liquidity, International Monetary Fund, Financial Reform, Senate Banking Committee, Ben Bernake, Federal Reserve, Monetary Policy, Chris Dodd, Democrats, European Central Bank, Frankfurt, Bank for International Settlements, Senate, Forum of Financial Stability, Treasury, Washington, Comptroller of the Currency, Central Banks, Sec, Global-Financial-Markets, Us, Sheila Bair, Republicans, Politics News
Georges Ugeux

Had Senate Banking Committee's Chairman Chris Dodd's proposal been effective before the crisis, where would we be today?

Read Post

White House Looking To Cut Deficit With Extra TARP Cash

wsj.com | By DEBORAH SOLOMON and JONATHAN WEISMAN | Posted 11.12.2009 | Politics

Read More: Taxes, Recovery, House, Bush, Federal Deficit, Afghanistan, Economy, Deficit Reduction, Budget Deficit, Tax Breaks, Troubled Asset Relief Program, Recession, Deficit, Politics, Bailout, Spending Cuts, Spending, Tim Geithner, Iraq War, Tax Cuts, The Fed, Treasury, Hank Paulson, Ben Bernanke, Senate, Tarp, Tax Increases, Politics News

The Obama administration, under pressure to show it is serious about tackling the budget deficit, is seizing on an unusual target to showcase fiscal r...

Read Whole Story

WSJ: AIG CEO Robert Benmosche Ready To Quit Over Pay Constraints

Huffington Post/AP | Posted 11.12.2009 | Business

Read More: Geithner, Regulation, Credit Default Swaps, Obama, White House, Bailout, Insurance, Treasury, Benmosche, Wall Street, Robert Benmosche, New York, AIG Bailout, House, Kenneth Feinberg, Financial Reform, Aig, Metlife, Capitalism, Tim Geithner, Financial Regulation, Executive Compensation, Liddy, Barack Obama, Banks, Socialism, Bonuses, Ken Feinberg, Executive Pay, Edward Liddy, Senate, Business News

NEW YORK — After just three months as head of battered insurer American International Group, Robert Benmosche has threatened to leave his post a...

Read Whole Story

Proposals In House Would Curb 'Too Big To Fail' Banks, Firms

Wall Street Journal | DAMIAN PALETTA and MICHAEL R. CRITTENDEN | Posted 11.09.2009 | Politics

Read More: Fed, Geithner, Timothy Geithner, Sec, Larry Summers, Too Big to Ail, Lobbying, Bank of America, Lobbyists, Chase, Paulson, Economy, Metlife, Regulation, JP Morgan, Obama, Democrats, Prudential, Recession, Barney Frank, House, Senate, House Financial Services Committee, Henry Paulson, White House, Treasury, Hank Paulson, Kanjorski, JP Morgan Chase, Republicans, Politics News

Democrats are advancing proposals in Congress designed to limit the size and complexity of financial companies so that any collapse wouldn't damage th...

Read Whole Story

Wall Street's Record Bonuses Return: Analysts Predict $30 Billion In Bonuses At Big 3

Bloomberg | Michael J. Moore and Ian Katz | Posted 11.09.2009 | Business

Read More: Tarp, Income Gap, White House, Executive Pay, Income Inequality, Economy, Obama, Capitalism, The Fed, Recession, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Unemployment, Bailout, Tim Geithner, 2009 Bonuses, Treasury, Banks, Bonuses, Kenneth Feinberg, Ken Feinberg, Wall Street Bonuses, Business News

Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s investment bank, survivors of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depressio...

Read Whole Story

US Treasury's Gold Valued: US Gold Reserves Total $288 Billion, But Not Really

Washington Post / Big Money | Martha C. White | Posted 11.08.2009 | Home

Read More: Taxes, Milken Institute, Fort Knox, Us Gold Reserves, Gold Reserves, Spot Gold, Liquidity, Cato Institute, Treasury, Bretton Woods, Gold, Gold Prices, Home News

Buried in the Treasury's International Reserve Position report is an intriguing bit of math. The document details the total amount, by weight, of the ...

Read Whole Story

Banks' 2008 Stock Options Turning Out To Be Most Lucrative Payouts Ever

The New York Times | LOUISE STORY | Posted 11.08.2009 | Business

Read More: Recovery, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Economy, Lloyd Blankfein, Obama, Compensation, Tim Geithner, Wells Fargo, White House, American Express, Finance, Treasury, JPMorgan Chase, Banks, Capital One, Ken Feinberg, Wall Street, Kenneth Feinberg, Wall Street Bonuses, Executive Pay, Citigroup, Business News

Banks cut bonuses last year and shifted more pay into stock and options from cash, a tactic that lawmakers supported for its emphasis on long-term per...

Read Whole Story

NY-23: Hoffman Tells GOP Clean Energy Bill Lie, Completely Botches it

Josh Nelson | Posted 11.03.2009 | Politics

Read More: Superfreakonomics, Doug Hoffman, Clean Energy, Gao, Treasury, Ny-23, $1761, Cbs, Global Warming, Climate Change, Government Accountability Office, Politics News
Josh Nelson

Doug Hoffman is dangerously out of touch. Recent false statements he made on cap-and-trade tell it all.

Read Post

CIT Bankruptcy Filed: US Will Likely Lose $2.3 Billion, Goldman Sachs Will Gain $1 Billion

AP / Huffington Post | By STEPHEN MANNING | Posted 11.01.2009 | Business

Read More: Short-Term Finance, Retailers, Geithner, Timothy Geithner, Goldman Sachs, Lending, Retail, CIT Bailout, Tim Geithner, Carl Ichan, Bailout, Finance, Lenders, Treasury, Cit, Banks, Wall Street, Ichan, Business News

WASHINGTON -- Lender CIT Group has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, in an effort to restructure its debt while trying to keep loans flowing...

Read Whole Story

Can Citigroup Carry Its Own Weight?

New York Times | ANDREW MARTIN and GRETCHEN MORGENSON | Posted 11.01.2009 | Business

Read More: Tarp, Geithner, Hank Paulson, Fdic, Paulson, Economy, Mortgage Crisis, Vikram S. Pandit, Taxpayers, Gmac, Housing Crisis, Recession, Citi, Vikram Pandit, Mortgages, Subprime Mortgages, Wall Street, Bailout, Finance, Common Stock, Treasury, Banks, Timothy Geithner, Citigroup, Business News

OVER the past 80 years, the United States government has engineered not one, not two, not three, but at least four rescues of the institution now know...

Read Whole Story

Congress and TBTF: Bring in the Bomb Squad

Joshua Rosner | Posted 10.29.2009 | Business

Read More: Fed, Tbtf, Finance, Regulation, Treasury, Congress, Obama, Fannie and Freddie, Contingent Capital, Business News
Joshua Rosner

This bill is one more act of sleight of hand by a Congress that, to the detriment of the public, fails to see that banks are there to serve the public good and can be regulated with such a goal.

Read Post

Happy Halloween: Pay Curbs are a Trick on the Taxpayer, Not a Treat

Marshall Auerback | Posted 10.27.2009 | Politics

Read More: Halloween, Tbtf, Chrysler, Derivatives, Fed, Treasury, Citibank, Aig, Obama, Ben Bernanke, Happy Halloween, Politics News
Marshall Auerback

The new pay regulations are ostensibly designed to try to align the financial incentives of managers with the longer-term performance of their firms. This measure reeks of bogus populism.

Read Post

How The US Blew The Trillion-Dollar Trade Of The Century

Bloomberg | Mark Fisher | Posted 10.26.2009 | Business

Read More: Geithner, John Thain, Hank Paulson, The Logical Trader, Bush, Bill Gross, Paulson, Bailouts, Economic Crisis, Bank of America, Aig, Obama, Bofa, Taxpayers, Barack Obama, Recession, Mark Fisher, Warren Buffet, Merrill Lynch, Wall Street, Bailout, Finance, Lehman Brothers, Fed, Tim Geithner, Bernanke, Treasury, Banks, Ben Bernanke, Business News

When the government was forced to bail out the financial system, our friends in Washington also had the opportunity to make the trade of the century f...

Read Whole Story

"Too Big To Fail" Legislation Is On The Way

New York Times | STEPHEN LABATON | Posted 10.26.2009 | Politics

Read More: Goldman Saks, Congress, Economy, Bailouts, Obama, Too Big to Fail Bill, Legislation, Ben Bernanke, Aig, White House, Bailout, Federal Reserve, Lehman Brothers, Bofa, Treasury, Gop, Consumer Protection Agency, Financial Crisis, Paul Volcker, Wall Street, Citigroup, Bank of America, Derivatives, Ben Bernanke Federal Reserve, Democrats, Recession, Barney Frank, House, House Financial Services Committee, Senate, Barack Obama, Tim Geithner, Banks, Bonuses, Too Big to Fail, Executive Pay, Politics News

A senior administration official said on Sunday that after extensive consultations with Treasury Department officials, Representative Barney Frank, th...

Read Whole Story

Frank Rich: Goldman Can Spare You A Dime

New York Times | FRANK RICH | Posted 10.17.2009 | Business

Read More: Timothy Geithner, Larry Summers, Economy, Barney Frank, Jobless, Regulation, Obama, Reform, Lloyd Blankfein, Frank Rich, Unemployment Rate, Goldman Sachs, White House, Jobless Rate, Bailout, Treasury, Blankfein, Wall Street, Health Care, Greed, Sec, Depression, Senate Finance Committee, Derivatives, Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, Goldman, Recession, Financial Services Committee, Health Care Reform, Bonuses, House Financial Services Committee, Business News

As leader of the Wall Street pack, Goldman declared surging profits, keeping it on track to dispense a record $23 billion in bonuses for 2009. But mos...

Read Whole Story

Exceptions To Derivatives Trading Rule Dilute Regulation

New York Times | GRETCHEN MORGENSON | Posted 10.17.2009 | Business

Read More: The Federal Reserve, Larry Summers, Clinton, Lehman Brothers, Derivatives Regulation, Aig, Obama Administration, Regulation, Obama, Legislation, House, Senate, White House, Economic Policy, Fed, Financial Services Committee, Treasury, Banks, Derivatives, Gary Gensler, Wall Street, Timothy Gueithner, Bill, Business News

Derivatives regulation has been on the nation's financial reform agenda for months. Undoing the Clinton-era law that exempted swaps from oversight is ...

Read Whole Story

Shahien Nasiripour

Congressional Committees Quietly Kill Portion Of Derivatives Bill; No One Watching For Systemic Risk

HuffingtonPost.com | Shahien Nasiripour | Posted 10.17.2009 | Business

Read More: President, White House, Bankruptcy, Cftc, Derivatives, Bernanke, House Ag Committee, Federal Reserve, Regulation, Obama, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Legislation, Aig, Lehman Brothers, Tim Geithner, House Agriculture Committee, Treasury, Ben Bernanke, Bear Stearns, House Bill, Bill, Otc Derivatives, House Financial Services Committee, Business News

Two congressional committees in charge of drafting legislation to regulate derivatives have quietly killed a provision that would allow the Federal Re...

Read Whole Story

Was Goldman Worth Saving? Reuters

Reuters | Rolfe Winkler | Posted 10.15.2009 | Business

Read More: American Express, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Frannie-Mae, Freddie Mac, Morgan Stanley, Capital Purchase Program, Treasury, Tarp, Snl-Financial, Business News

Thirty-three TARP recipients missed a scheduled dividend payment to taxpayers last month, according to the Treasury Department, including 18 banks tha...

Read Whole Story

Treasury To Big Banks: Repay Bailout Now

New York Times | Edmund Andrews | Posted 10.15.2009 | Business

Read More: Banks, Treasury, Treasury Department, Big Banks, Economy, Business News

Concluding that some of the nation's biggest banks are in good enough shape to raise capital from private investors, senior Treasury officials would l...

Read Whole Story

Watchdog: Geithner "Ultimately Responsible" For AIG Oversight Failure

AP | DANIEL WAGNER | Posted 10.14.2009 | Business

Read More: Federal Reserve, Treasury, Aig, AIG Oversight, Tim Geithner, Business News

WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is "ultimately responsible" for regulators' failure to rein in massive bonus payments at American International Group because he led the agencies that provided AIG's lifelines, according to a bailout watchdog.

Geithner was president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York before taking over at Treasury in January. He has said he did not learn until March about the $1.75 billion in bonuses and other compensation promised to AIG employees. But Geithner's subordinates at the New York Fed learned of the payments in November, according to Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the $700 billion financial bailout.

Even if no one told Geithner about the payments, "this is a failure of communication and a failure of management," Barofsky told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Wednesday. Geithner has been "the head of an organization that was involved in the bailout of AIG" since last September, he added.

A Treasury Spokeswoman would not address the comments about Geithner's leadership. She said in a statement that the Obama administration's pay czar continues to develop compensation plans for AIG and the other companies that received the costliest bailouts.

Geithner helped lead Fed efforts starting last fall to prop up AIG with billions in emergency financing. After becoming Treasury secretary, his department and the Fed continued unveiling new aid packages for AIG.

Read Whole Story

Pay Czar: AIG Asked To Withold Some Bonuses

AP | Posted 10.13.2009 | Business

Read More: Aig, Obama Administration, Kenneth Feinberg, Treasury, Business News

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration's pay czar has asked American International Group to withhold some of the millions in bonuses promised to its em...

Read Whole Story

Goldman Sachs Bonuses: Columnist Says Analysts Predict $23 Billion Bonus Pool, Firm May Make Huge Donation

New York Times | ANDREW ROSS SORKIN | Posted 10.13.2009 | Business

Read More: Lloyd Blankfein, Citigroup, Finance, Blankfein, Executive Pay, Bonuses at Goldman Sachs, Bonuses, Geithner, Goldman Sachs, Paulson, Morgan Stanley, Wall Street, Ceo, 2009 Bonuses, Treasury, Henry Paulson, Timothy Geithner, Executive Compensation, Goldman Sachs Bonuses, Business News

By most analyst estimates, the annual bonus pool will swell to more than $23 billion. In its second quarter, Goldman disclosed it had put aside $11.4 ...

Read Whole Story

Citigroup Returns to Banking by Divesting Its Oil Trading Arm

Raymond J. Learsy | Posted 10.14.2009 | Business

Read More: Energy, Federal Bailouts, Phibro, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Occidental Petroleum, Lehman, Oil, Treasury, Federal Reserve, Andy Hall, Jpmorgan, Bailouts, Business News
Raymond J. Learsy

It is scandalous that those in government vested with the responsibility of financial oversight have permitted a culture of "heads they win, tails we lose" to take hold and to grow into a financial Frankenstein.

Read Post

Bank of America Trailing Behind Other Banks In Mortgage Relief

Washington Post | Renae Merle | Posted 10.12.2009 | Business

Read More: Geithner, Baillout, Mha, Bank of America, Homeowners, Foreclosure Prevention, Making Home Affordable, Mortgage Crisis, Foreclosure Rates, Loan Modifications, Mortgage, Countrywide, Lenders, Finance, Default, Making Home Affordable Program, Mortgage Relief, Treasury, Banks, Foreclosure, Timothy Geithner, Housing Crisis, Business News

Bank of America employees are reminded every day of how far they still have to go. Just outside the elevators of their vast third-floor command center...

Read Whole Story