Bailoutsleuth

Seven banks fail Friday; toll for year climbs to 37

Bailoutsleuth — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:10:50 -0400

State and federal regulators closed seven banks today, including two with more than $1 billion in assets, bringing the total number of bank failures this year to 37. At this point last year, regulators had shut down 20 banks. The seven new closures were the most in a single day since Oc
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Advanta Bank, a target of customer complaints, closed by regulators

Bailoutsleuth — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:53:55 -0400

State and federal regulators closed Advanta Bank Corp ., a large Utah-based bank that provided credit cards to small businesses, wiping out an institution that had more than $1.6 billion in assets but had begun its slide more than a year ago. FDIC was unable to find another bank to take over
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TARP watchdog to report on mortgage modification program

Bailoutsleuth — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:28:48 -0400

Scrutiny of the Home Affordable Refinance Program is heating up in Washington, as lawmakers continue to question the mortgage refinancing program and say it is failing to meet expectations. The House Oversight Committee announced today that it will hold a hearing to examine the program Thur
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Ex-New York Fed chairman's Goldman Sachs investment gets more scrutiny

Bailoutsleuth — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:21:39 -0400

House Oversight Committee Chair Edolphus Towns (D-NY) is calling on Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke to release documents related to the controversial purchase of 37,000 shares of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. stock by a Fed insider. At the height of the financial crisis in Decemb
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Projected TARP cost rises more than 10 percent

Bailoutsleuth — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:19:20 -0400

The estimated cost to taxpayers of the Troubled Asset Relief Program has climbed $10 billion to $109 billion, according to the latest report by the Congressional Budget Office . In January, CBO estimated the program would cost $99 billion, but the agency has revised that figure. The shif
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Wachovia Bank hit with $160 million fine for money laundering

Bailoutsleuth — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:09:49 -0400

The federal government fined Wachovia Bank $160 million for failing to prevent Mexican drug cartels from using the bank to launder money, the Office of the Comptroller of Currency announced today. Prosecutors say the bank "willfully failed to establish an anti-money laundering prog
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Bernanke makes pitch to preserve Fed's regulatory power

Bailoutsleuth — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:22:01 -0400

Two days after Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) introduced legislation that would restrict the Federal Reserve's regulatory authority, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke came to Congress to persuade lawmakers to preserve its strength. Dodd's bill would severely curtail the Fed's bank supervisor
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Hartford Financial Services plans to repay TARP money

Bailoutsleuth — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:29:43 -0400

The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc . - which has drawn controversy for taking TARP money - has announced a pair of stock offerings to raise funds that will allow it to fully exit the program. The company got $3.4 billion last June through the Troubled Asset Relief Program,
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Loan officer banned from industry for forging documents

Bailoutsleuth — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:31:17 -0400

A former loan officer at a bank that got federal TARP aid has been banned from the industry after forging loan paperwork that caused his company to lose nearly half a million dollars. According to the order from the Federal Reserve , Adam Benarroch, a former assistant vice president
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Dodd unveils financial reform bill

Bailoutsleuth — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:47:43 -0400

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) revealed his long-anticipated financial reform bill Monday, which he said would provide a better regulatory framework than the existing system that has grown "hopelessly inadequate" in the wake of the financial crisis. The bill, Dodd said, would prevent a future bail
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