Consumerist
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glass-stegall act
Former Citigroup Head Waxes Nostalgic For Regulation He Helped Kill
Retired head of Citigroup John Reed seems to have some misgivings about the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1932, which his company lobbied to kill in the first place. More » -
populist rage
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 » -
banks
Citibank Markets To Only Rich People, Large Cities
True to its name, we suppose, Citibank will be focusing its marketing efforts on six major U.S. metropolitan areas and wealthy customers, and not the rest of us deadbeats. More » -
your money at work
Bailout Banks Will Keep Using Your Money For Private Jets
Under government pressure — and by "pressure" we mean asking meekly in a very soft voice — companies that have received funding from the taxpayer-funded TARP program have outlined the controls they plan to put in place to limit "luxury expenditures." And — surprise! — the definition of "luxury" is very different for the corporate titans spending your money. While most big banks have put at least some limits on personal use of corporate jets, many seem to echo Bank of America's policies on official use, which state that that execs can use private planes for "safety and efficiency reasons," no advance approval required. More » -
what recession?
Welcome To The New Gilded Age, Fueled By Your Money
Remember all of those banks that were "too big to fail" and had to be bailed out? Newsweek's Niall Ferguson is out with a report today pointing out that a year after the collapse of Lehman Brothers signaled the start of the bailout boom, they're still big, and thanks to the safety net you tossed them, they're "back to making serious money and paying million-dollar bonuses. Meanwhile, every month, hundreds of thousands of ordinary Americans face foreclosure or unemployment because of a crisis caused by ... a few Wall Street giants." More » -
executive compensation
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 » -
citibank
Citibank To Spend $10 Million On New Offices For Executives?
Bloomberg is reporting that Citibank is planning to spend at least $3.2 million for basic construction, and as much as three times that much after architects fees and other expenses are paid, to renovate the executive offices at the bank's Park Avenue headquarters. More » -
farces
Citi "Homeowner Helper" Site Merely Potemkin Village?
Did Citi set up its "homeowner helper" site to comply with Obama's mortgage assistance programs, but then not actually attach it to any humans that will help homeowners? After inputting his info on the site, Citi told reader CoarseLive to schedule an appointment with a representative. No one ever called him. When he tried calling Citi directly, multiple agents told him they had no idea what he was talking about, and they hung up on him, again and again. His story, inside...
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breaking
Markets Rally On Bernanke Comments, Citigroup Profits
The market began to rally today after Ben Bernanke said that accounting standards for illiquid assets need to be revised, and a leaked Citigroup memo had the CEO telling employees that the bank posting substantial earnings so far this year. What's the over/under on how long before the the MDMA wears off?
[WSJ, NYT]
Full Text of Bernake's Speech [Federal Reserve] (Photo: AGRR 4059) -
markets
Freak Out Continues: Markets Close At Lowest Level Since 1997
Bad day on Wall Street today, folks. The S&P 500 closed at the lowest level since April 1997. More » -
poll
Should Citibank Pay $400 Million To Name A Stadium While Taking Taxpayer Money?
The New York Mets are getting a new stadium. It'll be called Citi Field and that honor cost Citibank (and by extension, one could argue, taxpayers) $400 million. More » -
citi
White House To Citi: Don't Even Think About Buying Luxury Jets With Taxpayer Money
Yesterday, we wrote that Citigroup had decided to spend $50 million of its bailout money on a French luxury jet to ferry execs around town. The White House was not pleased about this. More » -
citi
Bailed Out Citigroup Stimulates French Economy By Purchasing $50 Million Corporate Jet
With $45 billion in taxpayer funds burning a hole in its pocket, Citigroup is purchasing a $50 million Dassault Falcon 7X, according to the New York Post. Apparently none of the existing jets that ferried execs to Washington to ask for bailout funds was ironic enough. More » -
citigroup
US Bails Out Citigroup
Federal regulators took extreme steps to prop up Citigroup, backing $306 billion of mainly real estate loans and securities and directly injecting money by buying $20 billion of preferred stock. The $20 billion of stock will pay an 8% dividend. Regulators will also get an additional $7 billion of preferred stock. Citigroup will basically halt dividend payments for 3 years and limit some executive pay. It will also implement the FDIC's loan modification plan, which is close to the one it had already announced for itself.
U.S. Approves Plan to Help Citigroup Cope With Losses [NYT] (Photo: Spencer E Holtaway)
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citibank
20% Of Citigroup Cardholders Can Expect Rate Increases For 2009
If you have a Citigroup-issued credit card and you haven't had a rate increase over the last two years, expect to be notified of a 2-3% rate increase on your November statement. Congratulations! You're going to help Citigroup offset its losses in the global credit card division, whether you were directly part of those losses or not. As the New York Times points out, by doing this Citigroup is breaking the promise they made to Congress in 2007 that they would not arbitrarily raise rates on accounts—which may be why they're offering a fairly lenient opt-out policy. More » -
wachovia
What Wachovia Customers Need To Do Post-Citigroup Takeover (Hint: Nothing)
What do Wachovia customers need to do now that Citigroup owns your ass? Absolutely nothing. You can do all your online and offline banking just like nothing happened. No temporarily held funds, no chained and locked bank branches. Everything is the same. Even your bank's regulator remains the Office of the Comptroller of Currency. Down the road there will likely be a few alterations, most of them cosmetic. Read our post "Insiders: Probable 1-Year Timeline For Customers In WaMu To Chase Transfer" for some of the changes you can expect.
(Photo: epicharmus)
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wachovia
Citigroup Buys Wachovia
Citigroup is buying Wachovia's deposits, $300 billion of its loan portfolio, and about $42 billion of debt for an undisclosed sum, reports CNN. More » -
citigroup
Citigroup May Reinstate Universal Default
Last year Citigroup pledged to abandon the customer-screwing policy of universal default, where an unrelated late payment or credit score change can trigger an interest rate increase on your Citibank card. They even used a marketing phrase to promote their promise: "a deal is a deal." According to the New York Times, Citigroup is "quietly reconsidering its pledge" and may decide to reinstate universal default as early as this week.
As the New York Times puts it, "Citigroup’s deal is only a deal until it isn’t." More »
citigroup
New York, 7:47 PM
Sun Nov 22
7 posts in the last 24 hours
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