Financial Services Industry Archive

Citi ponders future – Its stock price plunging, CitiGroup Inc. is considering selling itself or its parts. The venerable bank claims it has a strong capital and liquidity position but its stock has slipped 50 percent this week. [Source: The Wall Street Journal] Deflation fears rise – Falling prices for fuel, food and consumer goods may trigger a deflation spiral. Economists worry that...

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Bankers banks – banks which loan to community banks – are both benefiting and facing challenges from the financial crisis. On one hand, they are enjoying the extra kick of business from community banks which benefit themselves as majors and regionals suffer or go bust. On the other hand, a couple of bankers banks are losing money because, in the process, they have inherited bad loans. At...

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Are banks still making loans? It depends on who’s talking. Bankers and their trade groups appearing before skeptical members of the House Financial Services Committee this week insisted that banks are still making loans. Those that have received money from the $700 billion federal bailout plan are not using the money to compensate their executives, they claim. Steve Bartlett, president of the...

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As if the tension between banks and consumers weren’t already so thick you could cut it with the sharp drop in home values, banks may be taking another turn on the hot seat when it comes to their fees. In a recent blog post, the Wall Street Journal’s personal finance reporter Jane J. Kim points out that banks fees are not only on the rise, but that “actually obtaining information...

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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...

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Bad timing and a recalcitrant Bush administration made for an underwhelming economic summit Nov. 15 when leaders of Group of 20 countries met in Washington to deal with the financial crisis. The leaders came up with a list of 20 broad principles to increase international monitoring and regulation of financial markets and off-the-books securities transactions. Yet  details won’t be known...

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Why are mid-sized banks falling like frat boys after a toga party, with failures mounting more quickly than those of their larger banking brethren? Even before the spectacular Wall Street crash, WaMu’s takeover, and the run on IndyMac, industry analysts were forecasting that small and mid-sized financial institutions would be dropping like flies. An article in the New York Times in...

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Global confab to spotlight cooperation — A financial summit of 20 countries will meet in Washington Saturday to work out coordinated responses to the financial crisis. European leaders see causes as a lack of regulation in the U.S. while the Bush administration is shunning the idea of a single global regulator. [Source: Wall Street Journal] Feds may help mortgage firms help homeowners...

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Six weeks into the massive $700 billion bailout, commercial lending remains anemic with banks, auto financiers and credit card companies not extending credit and not being able to sell what loans they do make. The situation is so dire that the Treasury Department, The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Federal Reserve have issued a joint missive urging financial companies to start...

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Questions are being raised if traditional pension plans that companies hold for their retired workers are viable or need refunding. Some critics are even raising the specter that pensioners might get only a fraction of the money due them or nothing at all unless changes are made. The financial crisis has cost hundreds of companies billions of dollars in market capitalization in October alone,...

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