Financial Roundup: Backdating IndyMac, Banks Mum on Bailout, ATM Marketing and More

Regulator let troubled bank backdate records — Darrell Dochow, top West Coast official of The Office of Thrift Supervision, has ben reassigned following accusations that he let IndyMac Bancorp backdate records. Doing so let the mortgage lender appear to be healthy just before it was seized by the government. [Source: The Wall Street Journal]

Bailout bucks? None of your business — Twenty-one banks contacted by the Associated Press refused to give details of what they are doing with federal bailout money. “We’re not providing dollar-in, dollar-out tracking,” said a spokesman for bailout recipient SunTrust of Atlanta. [Source: Clusterstock.com]

Bank uses ATMs for marketing – First Tennessee is using its 504-unit ATM network to let customers know of carloans, refinancings and other products. Banks are noting that customers are withdrawing less cash. [Source: American Banker]

Mortgage refinancings pick up – Since Thanksgiving, banks in Nebraska and Iowa have seen a big pickup in refis. Rates on 30-year fixed mortgages have dropped to 5.19 percent. [Source: Omaha World-Herald]

Rates on two-year Treasury notes hit record low — The record was set when the Treasury Department auctioned $38 billion in two-year notes with a yield of 0.92 percent, down from 1.26 percent at the last auction. [Source: Boston.com]