Despite shedding its money-losing mortgage operations to focus on its tax business, H&R Block is still haunted by collapsing real-estate prices. As of the second-quarter ended October 30, the largest provider of U.S. tax preparation services held approximately $812 million in residential loans purchased from former mortgage loan affiliates, Option One and H&R Block Mortgage, net $63.7...
Financial Services Industry Archive
December 2008
Ever since the financial meltdown began in earnest in August, corporate directors have been hit with a series of complex new problems — not to mention a complex new vocabulary — to deal with. One of them has to do with Credit Default Swaps which are complicated, derivative-based hedges that theoretically help guarantee risk. Yet, these over-the-counter instruments have been blamed for...
Credit card rules on way — One of the biggest overhaul of credit card rules in decades is expected after the Federal Reserve Board approves new rules next week. Lobbyists are busy with consumer groups trying to limit overdraft fees and banking lobbyists claiming the rules will squeeze credit further. [Source: American Banker] AIG down $10 billion in bad debts — Troubled AIG owes...
Financial firms: Beware the green backlash. Bowing to pressure from environmentalists, Bank of America announced Dec. 3 it will phase out financing for companies that get coal by mountaintop mining (PDF link). According to The New York Times Green Inc. blog, executives at the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank, one of the country’s largest financial institutions, were “persuaded … to take a...
For the most part, credit unions have plodded on just fine during the financial crisis. Even so, a government plan is due this week that could tap as much as $41 billion to make sure the system that keeps credit unions viable continues to perform. Millions of dollars in loans are expected for “corporate” credit unions which are large institutions serving as financing, investment and...
Mark-to-market sticking around - Despite protests from the banking industry, the Securities and Exchange Commission will not suspend the controversial mark-to-market accounting rule. Some in the banking industry have blamed the accounting rule for worsening the credit crunch. The SEC, however, is open to discussing ways to refine the rule’s application. [Source: Marketwatch.com]. Citadel...
There’s a new geography of financial woe and The New York Times has done a major service by putting it together in a revealing graphic. It shows where, by city and banks, the first $335 billion tranche of the $700 billion bailout has gone. So far, $161.5 billion has been allocated, another $108.5 billion is pending, some $40 billion is going to American International Group and another $25...
For a moment of clarity in understanding just how all the watchdogs in finance took a siesta, read Gretchen Morgenson’s long takeout in The New York Times this Sunday about how ratings agency Moody’s went so far astray from its traditional role. The reason? Very simple. Money. Here’s what she reports: “By the time Moody’s became a public company in 2000, structured...
Banks are goin’ mobile. Citibank, U.S. Bank, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, BancorpSouth, and most recently Regions Bank are already offering access to accounts and a variety of other services through rapidly advancing and ubiquitous mobile devices. And in the United Kingdom, banking via mobile is growing at a faster clip among consumers than the adoption of credit cards, online banking or...
Setting values for elusive Credit Default Swaps (CDS) has taken a step forward when one of two new clearinghouses for their trading won regulatory approval. IntercontinentalExchange Inc., an Atlanta firm planning a clearinghouse, won approval Dec. 4 for a New York trust charter from the New York State Banking Department. Also approved was a charter for the ICE U.S. Trust bank to house the...
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- Goldman Sachs, Shareholders Just Can't Get Along
- Geithner: Guilty Until Proven Innocent in AIG Debacle
- ECB President Cautions Interest Rate Hike, But Banks Are Ill-Prepared
- Inside Small Business Lending: Short Q&A With An Industry Chief Executive
- More Homeowners Face Mortgage Woes
- If Consumer Prices Are Down, Why Are Car Insurance Rates Up?
- As Income Mobility Falls, American Dream Fades
- Lawmakers Push Bill to Monitor Fed Lending Programs
- Eugene Fama Drinks His Own Brand of Kool-Aid
- Roubini Warns of New Financial Crisis
- Ex-Wells Fargo Loan Officer Details Shady Practices
- Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase are too Late in Moving to Curb Overdraft Fees
- Civil Rights Group Teams With Wells Fargo Despite Charges of Predatory Lending
- State Farm CEO Rust: Effective But Not Greedy
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- As Income Mobility Falls, American Dream Fades
- Creative Destruction and the new Money Trust
- Geithner Deal With Wall Street Over AIG Swaps Cost Taxpayers $13 Billion
- Civil Rights Group Teams With Wells Fargo Despite Charges of Predatory Lending
- Senator Dodd Is Saving Lenders From Themselves
- Citigroup Hit With Huge Credit Loss
- FDIC Chief Sheila Bair to Treasury Brat Geithner: Nyah!
- Private Equity Firms About To Gear Up The Small Banking Sector
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The financial industry meltdown has been the worst since the great depression. BNET Financial provides daily industry trends and news coverage with insights for managers and executives about the major financial services companies in the banking and finance sector. In addition to detailed company profiles, we bring you industry analysis on new mergers, partnerships, financial products, rates, investments, capital, and a host of other critical factors of success in the finance business.