bailout
Government Orders Pay Cuts For Bailed-Out Firms
The huge salaries and bonuses paid to executives of banks and other firms that received government bailout funds have been the subject of a lot of taxpayer rage. The Obama administration listened, and will order pay cuts. More »
Taxpayers Unlikely To See Much Auto Bailout Money
A new report by the Congressional Oversight Panel — an independent, yet totally powerless, group appointed by the Senate to review the results of the recent government bailouts — states that we'll get a few bucks back from the automakers, but shouldn't count on it to cover our car payments: More »
Bank Of America Wants To Begin Paying Back Bailout Money, Avoid Government "Fee"
The Wall Street Journal says that Bank of America is interested in paying back a portion of the bailout money it received, with the goal of getting out from under the purview of the salary czar and reduce a "layer of federal involvement in its affairs." More »
Government Has Made $4 Billion On The Bailout, So Far
The NYT says a little less than a year after the economic meltdown, the government is starting to see a profit from banks repaying bailout money. More »
Banks Once "Too Big To Fail" Now Even Bigger After Meltdown
Remember those banks that the federal government bailed out because they were "too big to fail?" Well...after mergers and bank takeovers (some encouraged by the government) those banks bailed out because they were "too big to fail" now are much bigger. JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America combined now control more than 20% of all bank deposits in the United States. More »
VIDEO: What Happened To All Of Those Toxic Assets?
Hey, remember the TARP program? If banks are now paying back TARP funds, then what happened to those toxic assets? Are they sitting in a canyon in Wyoming for the next 10,000 years? Not exactly. More »
AIG Asks Federal Permission To Pay $2.4 Million In Executive Bonuses
A hush fell over the AIG conference room on the day that their Worst Company in America 2009 trophy was unveiled. The eyes of every executive in the room sparkled with just a bit of pride. "Well done, everyone," said the man at the head of the table. "But we mustn't rest on our gilded-feces laurels. It's time to begin our work for next year's competition." More »
Citibank To Raise Salaries By 50% In Reaction To Bonus Limits
The AP is reporting that Citibank will be raising salaries for certain employees by as much as 50% in order to offset the new bonus restrictions. The company faces the restrictions because it took bailout money. More »
Here's Where Your Overdraft Fees Are Going: Banks Are Paying Government Back For Bailouts
Several banks are doing just what they're always bugging customers to do — paying back money that was lent to them. More »
FBI Warns Of Bailout Fraud
It's not just monolithic corporations, financial institutions, state governments and the like that are benefiting from bailout funds. Scam artists stand to make a killing also, the FBI says: More »
GM Files For Bankruptcy Today
After failing to get its debt-for-stock offer approved last week, and missing the June 1st deadline for concessions from creditors and its union, GM will file for bankruptcy later today. Reuters notes that its filing will be the third-largest in U.S. history, after Lehman Bros and Washington Mutual, and the largest ever in manufacturing. More »
Banks Want Taxpayer Aid To Buy Toxic Assets From Themselves
...The Public-Private Investment Program provides subsidies to private investors to encourage them to buy legacy loans from banks. The goal is to encourage buyers to bid more than they are currently willing to pay, and hopefully close the gap with the prices at which the banks are willing to sell. More »
In GM Bankruptcy Plan, Government Will Select New Board Of Directors
Let's say the U.S. has poured billions of dollars into a failing company. How strongly should it try to protect that money once the company files for bankruptcy? The Washington Post is reporting that the plan for GM—which may go belly up as early as Monday—is for federal officials to select 5 or 6 of the company's new board members, and have a say over which 6 of the existing board will remain. The UAW gets to choose another, and Canada might possibly be given one slot to fill. The rest of us will probably just get t-shirts or a souvenir mug. More »
In Which NPR And Congressional Oversight Panel Chair Elizabeth Warren Hate Each Other
While we were concentrating on other things (Snuggie testing, for example), there has apparently been something of a backlash going on against NPR's Planet Money podcast for its rude treatment of Congressional Oversight Panel Chair Elizabeth Warren. NPR's Adam Davidson has since expressed regret that he talked over Ms. Warren in a rude way — but despite the mea culpa, a series of links about the issue has popped up in our inbox more than a week later. More »
JPMorgan Chase Wants To Repay Bailout Money
JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are seeking permission to repay government bailout funds, says Reuters. More »
Don't You Wish You Made $1 A Year Like AIG's CEO?
The NYT DealBook Blog says that AIG's $1 interim CEO is living pretty well, despite the whole "being hated for something you didn't do" thing. More »
Chrysler May Avoid Bankruptcy
It now seems much more likely that Chrysler will avoid bankruptcy. BusinessWeek says that Chrysler and the US Treasury have reached a deal with the banks and private equity firms that hold Chysler's debt. More »
Bank Of America CEO: The Bush Administration Made Me Do It!
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office is at it again. They've been investigating the circumstances that led to the merger of Bank of America and Merrill Lynch and the subsequent bonus payments to executives. In a letter to Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Cuomo quotes Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis as saying that former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson threatened him with removal from his position and mass firing of the board and senior management if he didn't allow the merger to go through. More »
Time Is Running Out For Chrysler! Bankruptcy "95% Certain"
With a week to go before the deadline runs out on Chrysler's bailout — it's looking less and less likely that the automaker will be saved from liquidation. More »
