Who’s this guy?
Meet Kenneth R. Feinberg, the new pay “czar” for the White House. He’s tasked with reigning in the out of control compensation at companies the government helped recently.
I think it should be noted right off the bat that this is tied to executive compensation and bonuses…two pots of money that are so [...]

And this is for 2008…a year when their failure nearly brought the entire world’s financial system to its knees.
I don’t care if these bonuses were contractual or not. New circumstances (you know…like BANKRUPTCY!) could allow them to renegotiate with their employees.
From the AP comes the list…
Citigroup…
Citigroup Inc., one of the biggest recipients of government bailout [...]

Most people don’t realize that the insane gas prices last year had nothing to do with increased demand and had everything to do with market speculation and hoarding encouraged by the top investment banks.
Now True/Slant’s own Matt Taibbi uncovers the truth behind the scam.
Read the rest at True/Slant.

Even though he’s only been in office for 5 months, this has still be a long time coming.
And there are some important measures being introduced for home loans and consumer protection.
From Wash Post:
Many of the specific proposals will require legislation, and today’s announcement will drop the plan into an already heated debate on Capitol Hill [...]

Even after reading this article I think it’s an open question, but I wasn’t aware that we were paid dividends on the preferred shares.
From McClatchy:
In addition to returning the $68 billion, the 10 banks paid the government $1.8 billion in dividends on the preferred shares of stock the government owned. That translates to an [...]

That’s out of the nearly $230B given out over the past 9 months.
In other words, nearly 30% of the money that we would NEVER see again is being paid back. And the government could actually make a profit if they choose to exercise stock options, but there’s word they won’t do that.
Here’s more from Wash [...]

Today, Congress sent President Obama the much talked-about bill setting in place new rules for the credit card industry.
The new restrictions will protect debt-ridden consumers from many of the surprise charges common in the industry, like over-the-limit fees and a charge to pay the bill by phone. People under 21 also will find it difficult [...]

I don’t think think this comes as a huge surprise, and it’s certainly disheartening.
From Wash Post:
The government signaled yesterday that its financial rescue efforts may have reached their high-water mark, announcing that the much-anticipated “stress tests” of 19 large banks showed that only one, GMAC, was likely to need additional taxpayer aid and that it [...]

It’s almost been two months since Geithner announced the details of how the stress tests would go down, and now the government is set to announce the results for a bunch of banks.
Still, the focus is certainly on the top two.
From Financial Times:
Citigroup and Bank of America are working on plans to raise more than [...]

On Thursday, President Obama announced support for a new bill aimed at protecting credit card holders.
As early as next week, House Democrats expect to act on a bill that would make it harder for the industry to slap new fees and rates on cardholders while also requiring clearer disclosure of the costs and risks for [...]

Between Wells Fargo and this news, doesn’t anybody think that this may put a slight damper on those Tea Parties on Wednesday?
From MarketWatch:
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said Monday it swung to a profit in the first-quarter compared to the prior period, and announced it has commenced a public offering of $5 billion of its [...]

And there was much rejoicing…
From MarketWatch:
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Wells Fargo & Co. said Thursday that first-quarter earnings will surge to a record $3 billion, well ahead of analyst forecasts, as loan losses and provisions dropped from the previous difficult quarter and its mortgage business thrived.
Wells shares jumped 22% as the bank also noted its [...]

At the center of President Obama’s overhaul strategy for Wall Street are the “stress tests” which will be applied to all financial institutions. But how accurate will the test results be? That will depend on whether the treasury takes off-balance-sheet assets into account, experts say.
This is Danielle Ivory, reporting from the American News Project and [...]

“Be careful how you make those statements, gentlemen. The public isn’t buying that. My administration is the only thing between you and the pitchforks.”
- Obama cautioning bank executives on justifying high salaries in a recent private meeting
I think it’s pretty clear that the bank executives simply don’t get how angry folks are. And that’s understandable. [...]

If you really know what’s going on with how Geithner’s plan is structured and how the banks can take advantage of it, then this is the type of behavior is incredibly suspect because it appears as if they’re gambling with the TARP money when they should be lending it instead.
From NY Post:
As Treasury Secretary Tim [...]

Krugman doesn’t like it because it doesn’t punish the behavior that got us into this mess in the first place. And while I have a soft spot in my heart for that line of reasoning, his idea of nationalizing the banks is a non-starter. I wish he realized that, but nonetheless.
Marron makes the point that [...]

Senate Banking Committee Chair Chris Dodd has had better days. Looks like the AIG bonus scandal just found a political whipping boy:
Dodd just admitted on CNN that he inserted a loophole in the stimulus legislation that allowed million-dollar bonuses to insurance giant AIG to go forward – after previously denying any involvement in writing the [...]

Too much easy credit, not enough income and scant capitalization have created yet another perfect storm.
From Reuters:
AmEx, the largest U.S. charge card operator by sales volume, said its net charge-off rate — debts companies believe they will never be able to collect — rose to 8.70 percent in February from 8.30 percent in January.
The credit [...]

AIG’s decision to pay out bonuses despite the financial company’s massive troubles has angered a lot of people. Place the president in the angry category.
Joining a wave of public anger, President Barack Obama blistered insurance giant AIG for “recklessness and greed” Monday and pledged to try to block it from handing its executives $165 million [...]