Treasury Department

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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...

BofA, Wells Fargo Rank Worst for Loan Modifications

Treasury report rates banks' performance

(Newser) - Bank of America began modifying just 4% of its loans eligible under the Making Home Affordable Act, according to a Treasury report on big banks' performance, while Wells Fargo started just 6%. JPMorgan Chase led the pack with 20%, Bloomberg reports, while Citigroup had 15%. “Some of the servicers...

Geithner Flips Out, Tongue-Lashes Regulators

(Newser) - The heat is apparently getting to Tim Geithner. At a meeting last week with high-level financial regulators, the treasury secretary indulged in a potty-mouthed diatribe about delays in the administration's highly touted plan to overhaul the regulatory system, declaring, "enough is enough," the Wall Street Journal reports....

TARP Watchdog: Bailouts May Cost US $24T

Number based on 'hypothetical maximum,' Treasury counters

(Newser) - The special inspector overseeing Treasury’s TARP program says federal assistance to banks and other financial entities could end up costing taxpayers $23.7 trillion, Bloomberg reports. Aside from the $700 billion bailout, Neil Barofsky says in testimony prepared for told Congress tomorrow, other trillion-dollar federal programs could balloon. “...

Banks Misused Bailout Funds

(Newser) - Instead of using federal bailout money to increase lending as the money was intended, many banks used TARP funds to make investments, repay loans, and even buy other banks, reports the Washington Post, citing a government audit report. Of 360 banks surveyed, 110 invested at least some of their bailout...

Bankruptcy Looms as Feds Refuse to Bail Out CIT Group

Treasury 'drawing line in sand,' says analyst

(Newser) - The Obama administration has rejected CIT Group's pleas for a bailout, and the troubled commercial lender is likely to file for bankruptcy as early as today, reports the Washington Post. CIT—which has already received $2.3 billion in TARP funds—provides financing to close to a million small- and...

Deficit Tops $1T for First Time
 Deficit Tops $1T for First Time 
Jul 13, 2009 2:25 PM CDT

Deficit Tops $1T for First Time

(Newser) - Nine months into the fiscal year, the federal deficit has topped $1 trillion for the first time. The imbalance is intensifying fears about higher interest rates and inflation; there's also concern about trying to reverse the deficit—by reducing government spending or raising taxes—in the midst of a harsh...

Bailouts May Be Offered to Small Businesses

TARP funds, meant to save banks, could be used to save jobs

(Newser) - The Obama administration is working on a plan that would take money from the TARP—the $700 billion fund intended to rescue banks—and lend it to small businesses, the Washington Post reports. The money would come with few restrictions, and the government would pick up as much as 90%...

How Taxpayers Can Profit From the New GM
How Taxpayers Can Profit From the New GM
ANALYSIS
Jul 9, 2009 8:47 PM CDT

How Taxpayers Can Profit From the New GM

A change in the automotive paradigm would be worth more than any dividend

(Newser) - Tomorrow will see the death—and rebirth—of General Motors. And with the government taking a 60% stake, it's reasonable to wonder whether taxpayers will ever see a return on their investment, writes Matthew DeBord for the Big Money on Slate. But the focus on money might be "short-sighted,...

GE Reaps Billions From Bailout Loophole
 GE Reaps 
 Billions From 
 Bailout Loophole 
INVESTIGATION
Jun 29, 2009 8:09 AM CDT

GE Reaps Billions From Bailout Loophole

Loophole lets company pull down $74B from FDIC

(Newser) - The biggest beneficiary of the federal government's debt guarantee program, one of Washington's key bank rescue efforts, isn't a bank or a financial services company—it's General Electric, which exploited a loophole it had lobbied aggressively to insert, and reaped billions in bailout money. A joint investigation by ProPublica and...

Obama Proposes More Powerful Fed

(Newser) - President Obama today proposed broad new powers for the Federal Reserve and the creation of new national regulator to ensure against another financial crisis, the Wall Street Journal reports. Under the new plan, the Fed would oversee all components of any banking concern, even its foreign affiliates, and Treasury would...

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 Jumps 28, Ends at 2009 High
 Dow Jumps 28, 
 Ends at 2009 High  
MARKETS
Jun 12, 2009 3:15 PM CDT

Dow Jumps 28, Ends at 2009 High

(Newser) - Markets were mixed today, but the Dow closed at its highest end point in 2009 even as tech and material stocks pulled down other indices, the Wall Street Journal reports. The resurgent dollar cut deeply into the commodities sector. A NYSE computer malfunction also temporarily halted trading in some stocks....

Bond Sales Drive Dow Up 32
 Bond Sales Drive Dow Up 32 
MARKETS
Jun 11, 2009 3:16 PM CDT

Bond Sales Drive Dow Up 32

(Newser) - Markets were up today on a successful sale of 30-year Treasury notes and other indicators of economic recovery, the Wall Street Journal reports. Bank of America saw a 9% upswing after its CEO testified on Capitol Hill. The Dow gained 31.90 to 8,770.92. The S&P rose...

Economists See High Unemployment Through 2010

(Newser) - Economists think the US unemployment rate will stay above 9% through 2010, the Wall Street Journal survey finds. Accordingly, those in the know believe the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates down at least through spring. “For real people, there is no recovery until the unemployment rate stabilizes,”...

Feds Put 'Gun to Head' of BofA's Lewis on Merger

(Newser) - Ben Bernanke and Henry Paulson may have leaned on Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis too heavily last year when he tried to back out of a deal to acquire Merrill Lynch, say congressional investigators. In fact, a GOP briefing document says the two Bush officals "put a gun...

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