New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo says he’s got the smoking data proving that bankers’ comp is out of whack. In a nutshell, he concludes: “When the banks did well, their employees were paid well. When the banks did poorly, their employees were paid well. And when the banks did very poorly, they were bailed out by taxpayers and their employees were still paid well. Bonuses...
Financial Services Industry Archive
July 2009
Less than 18 months ago, Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit was touting the company’s joint venture with Japanese financial giant Nikko Cordial and sounding bullish about business prospects in Japan. “Citi and Nikko both have demonstrated a long-term commitment to Japan, and we intend to grow our tremendous franchise there in order to serve clients better,” he said in a March 2008...
Hartford Financial shares are up more than 12 percent today after the insurer beat (albeit low) estimates of operating earnings yesterday. But the big news, as far as investors are concerned, is the confidence outgoing CEO Ramani Ayer exhibited on the analyst conference call this morning. While Ayer, who leaves at the end of the year, used the word “challenging” more than once to...
It may be too early to tell, but the just released second quarter earnings for The Hartford and Lincoln National, two insurers that grabbed federal TARP money, aren’t a ringing endorsement for the program. But take heart, it could have been even worse if taxpayers didn’t foot the bill. The Hartford, based in the Connecticut city of the same name, reported a loss of $15 million or 6...
How poorly do Americans think of the Federal Reserve? According to Gallup, the U.S. central bank ranked last among nine government agencies in a poll that rated their efficacy. Only 30 percent of respondents rated the Fed’s recent performance as “excellent” or “good,” down from 53 percent in 2003. In terms of popular esteem, the report card puts the Fed behind...
Forget your sorry-ass 401k plan. The hottest investment these days is lending money to illiquid financial firms. American Express today touted the 26 percent annualized return that U.S. taxpayers earned on money the company secured through the government’s Capital Purchase Program. The credit card and travel services company made the announcement in connection with its repurchase of stock...
Nor was there anything to amaze the judicious in the discovery that high government officials had repeatedly accepted Morgan’s largess. The trick of putting such officials under obligation is one which the big bankers have practiced from time immemorial. –The Nation, June 3, 1933 Everyone loves a villain. Lex Luthor, the Joker, Agent Smith. The bad, in its eternal war with the good,...
Deutsche Bank is dealing a swift blow of reality to the newfound financial services party. After mostly beating second quarter earnings expectations by wide margins, in some cases reporting windfall trading profits, the financial press has been quick to reopen discussions of whether we are in a long-lasting recovery. As I pointed out last week, the catch to that is mostly that the big, one-off...
Sure was entertaining to see the nation’s top financial regulators clashing over turf on Friday like hyenas scrapping over a bone. More seriously, it shows the cracks appearing in the Obama administration’s campaign for financial reform. Testifying Friday before the House Financial Services Committee, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, Federal Reserve boss Ben Bernanke, FDIC head...
What might “The Closer’s” ace detective Brenda Johnson glean from what these senior bank officials said this month in discussing their respective companies’ latest earnings? “I would say consumer charge-offs may be close to peaking in dollar terms around year-end, although we believe it will stay elevated post to peak.” –Ken Lewis, CEO, Bank of America...
- Zions Bancorporation: Shareholder Confidence Runs High, But The Worst Is Not Over Yet
- Will Sun Life President Boscia Pay a Call on His Former Company?
- Midsize Banks Have Worst Credit
- Is Manulife Stock 'Depressed?' Ask the Lady in the Bikini
- AIG: Help Wanted, But Will Anyone Apply?
- State Farm Is Warming Up to Florida
- Underrated: S&P, Moody's, Fitch ... and PIMCO
- Geithner's Not Going
- Barney Frank Aide Blasts Media Report Alleging Lack of Progress on Financial Reform
- 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.