Financial Roundup: Paulson Leaving Bailout Reserve, BofA's Chinese Deal, Swaps Get a Market, and More

Paulson to leave bailout reserve — Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in an interview that he will leave a reserve in the $700 billion bailout fund for the incoming Obama administration, making it unlikely that homeowners will be getting immediate mortgage relief.  He has tapped about $290 billion of the $700 billion bailout. [Source: The Wall Street Journal]

BofA in Chinese deal — After buying Countrywide Financial and Merrill Lynch, Bank of America will double its stake in China Construction Bank. BofA, which received $15 billion in federal rescue money to held thaw credit markets, says public funds won’t be used in the deal. [Source: Charlotte Observer ]

Credit swap clearinghouse proceeds — U.S. regulators and agencies will develop a central clearinghouse to bring transparency to credit default swap trading. The murky nature of the swaps contributed to the current crisis.  [Source: Business Insurance ]

Insurers pick up banks to get aid — Joining a growing club, life insurance firms are buying regional banks to get federal bailout aid. Lincoln National Corp. will buy a small thrift in Indiana, Genworth Financial will buy one in Minnesota and Hartford Financial Services will buy Federal Trust Corp. [Source: The Wall Street Journal ]

Citi takes cuts overseas — Surprising analysts, Citi is including foreign operations in Brazil, India and Mexico in its massive layoffs of 52,000 workers. While such countries continue to grow, some Citi units there are thought to be inefficient. [Source: American Banker]