aig bailout
AIG CEO
Edward Liddy told the House Financial Services subcommittee this afternoon that he has asked the members of the Financial Products division to voluntarily return
half of their bonuses.
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aig bailout
New York Attorney General
Andrew Cuomo has written a letter to House Financial Services Chairman
Barney Frank, offering some advice on
what topics they might discuss at tomorrow's AIG hearing. Among them: Giving "retention" bonuses to people who have
left the company, making 73 millionaires in
"the unit which lost so much money that it brought the firm to its knees" and the fact that without a taxpayer bailout — the "best and brightest" at AIG wouldn't have jobs
from which to collect impressive guaranteed bonuses.
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debt collection
Apparently the answer to that question is "yes." CNN is reporting that several states have outsourced bounced check collections to a company that will track you down — even for minor accidental
bounced checks — and make you take their personal finance class. By the way, the class costs $160.
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bailout
"Hey, guys? Where did that 2 trillion dollars go?" asks
Bloomberg. The answer? We'd tell you, but it would be bad for you.
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news from the swamp
The House this week voted 291-127 to pass the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act, Congress' first major attempt to prevent a recurrence of the ongoing subprime meltdown. The bill, supported by every Democrat and 64 Republicans, stabs at the heart of the meltdown by:
- Establishing a national licensing and registration system for mortgage lenders;
- Establishing the Office of Housing Counseling within HUD to help borrowers avoid foreclosure;
- Banning loans that a borrower cannot reasonably repay;
- Banning lenders from steering borrowers towards loans with predatory characteristics;
- Making banks that securitize mortgages liable for violating lending laws.
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hot government webcams
The House Financial Services Committee wants to know why it is so difficult to dispute inaccurate information on your credit report. You can watch the hearing live thanks to a webcam connected to the tubes.
The hearing will examine factors that continue to contribute to inaccurate consumer credit reports and evaluate the adequacy of the consumer dispute process under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). In addition, the Committee will hear recommendations for improving the process and efforts that furnishers, credit bureaus and the regulators are taking to improve the accuracy of credit report information and will review the status of key rule makings and studies mandated by the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACTA) related to the accuracy of information furnished to consumer reporting agencies and the adequacy of the dispute resolution process.
Hot! The Committee will hear testimony from the FTC, the Federal Reserve, consumer advocates, and industry representatives. Not invited to testify: The Consumerist. Don't worry Chairman Franks, you can invite us to the next hearing.
— CAREY GREENBERG-BERGER
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