Financial Services Industry Archive

“Bad bank” to cost $4 trillion? — Goldman Sachs economists estimate that it could take $4 trillion to establish a “bad bank” to buy toxic loans. The number could shrink if the bank were limited to certain loans or banks. [Source: Reuters] Cuomo may go after Merrill bonuses — New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo may demand return of the $4 billion in bonuses...

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Today, the executive committee of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) — the state officials who regulate America’s multi-trillion insurance industry — may rule on whether to loosen capital standards for the nation’s life insurers, allowing them to operate with less cash to back up their obligations to policyholders. Is this an indication that huge...

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Whither Wells Fargo? The venerable San Francisco bank is in the spotlight as one of the few successes among the major buyout kings of the bloody financial meltdown. Beating hapless Citigroup to the punch, it picked up Wachovia and its prized retail operations. Unlike other banks it says it isn’t going back to the trough another time for federal bailout funds. Yet, a big question is...

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For months, it has been expected that credit cards will be the next shoe to drop in the financial crisis after mortgages. It seems that the prediction is coming true. Credit card companies are reporting spikes in delinquencies and are circling their wagons by setting aside more money to cushion losses and are paying the price on their balance sheets. A frightening new twist is that layoffs are...

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Wells Fargo and Wachovia are now one, or so trumpets a new prime-time commercial spot. Though the merger is consummated and there’s talk of a new official brand name for the company’s newly combined financial-advisor practice (possibly to be called Wells Fargo Investments), roughly 20,000 Wachovia reps are getting anxious about retention bonuses that not only haven’t been paid —...

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Timothy Geithner’s first act as Treasury Secretary has been to issue new rules limiting lobbying for access to the $700 billion federal bailout program. It’s about time. Specifically, Geithner is ordering Treasury to combat lobbying influence over the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (EESA) which handles the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). So far, funds have...

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Lewis to face the music — Bank of America CEO Kenneth Lewis will appear before his board Wednesday to explain problems with his bank’s purchase of troubled Merrill Lynch. Despite speculation that Lewis could be ousted, insiders say his long-standing relationship with directors will save him. [Source: Charlotte Observer] Sovereign funds scaled back — The global financial crisis...

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While the Obama administration is moving full-tilt toward a new $825 billion rescue plan, a post mortem on the last one shows that over half of it was flushed away without accomplishing anything - other than decorating John Thain’s office at Merrill Lynch. Lending didn’t increase, and banks remain as nervous about their bad debts as a serial credit card abuser. Gregory Case, CEO of...

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 Just a week after his inauguration, Barack Obama’s plans to regulate the financial industry are starting to take shape. Nothing definite has been put together yet and whatever does evolve must get through Congress and possibly hostile Republican opposition. But it is clear that an entirely new level of regulation seems likely. The efforts are coming from several fronts. One...

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More fallout from Thain departure — Bank of America is trying to reassure its workforce, investors and the public that the ouster of former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain doesn’t mean its takeover of the investment firm is in jeopardy. Thain resigned over concerns that he didn’t tell BofA chief Kenneth Lewis personally about a $15 billion loss last quarter and awarded...

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