When Congress bailed out big banks, it also limited the pay of CEOs at those banks -- one of the main reasons why banks wanted out of the bailout program.
Hundreds of struggling small community banks could be stuck in the federal government's much-maligned bank bailout program, a watchdog agency warned in a report released Thursday.
There may be no more foul four-letter word in the Republican presidential race than TARP, the Troubled Asset Relief Program passed in 2008 to bail out the tottering U.S. financial system. And former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who runs far at the back of the GOP pack in most polls, dropped it on the front-runners in Tuesday night's CNN debate in Las Vegas.
Regulators were under pressure to cut the biggest banks loose from the Wall Street bailout program, a federal watchdog said in a report issued Friday.
It's been a pretty good week for the Treasury Department's bailout program.
Don't look now, but the bank bailout is starting to turn a profit.
Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, informed President Obama on Monday that he is resigning from his position, effective March 30.
The Obama Administration's main foreclosure-prevention program continues to fall short, and last year's Wall Street reform act does not adequately address the threat that big financial firms pose to the broader economy, the top federal bailout watchdog said Tuesday.
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner outlined the benefits of the government's bailout of the financial system Thursday, saying that the overall cost will be a "fraction" of the original estimate.
Two years after the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program was launched, the Congressional Budget Office now estimates the government's economic rescue package will cost taxpayers $25 billion.
Government prosecutors got their first conviction of a person accused of defrauding the Troubled Asset Relief Fund Friday.
Most Americans oppose it, but the government's bailout of Wall Street appears in hindsight as a heroic rescue that kept the world economy from collapsing, says analyst Fareed Zakaria.
Two years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, it seems safe to say that there is still a lot of resentment toward the financial sector.
While bailed-out Wall Street is back on its feet and making profits, Main Street banks have gotten little to no boost from taxpayer bailouts, a watchdog panel said Wednesday.
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner defended the government's bailout of the financial system on Tuesday, saying it has been a "critical" part of the economic recovery and will ultimately cost less than expected.
It might seem that the banking sector's bailout saga is nearing its close, leaving room to focus on other catastrophes like the European debt crisis or the Gulf oil spill, but some small banks across the country that benefited from TARP are still struggling to stay afloat, and many more will likely fail.
During the next banking crisis, we will need speed. Remember how floundering financial firms, like Lehman Brothers, AIG, and Fannie Mae, contributed to fear and uncertainty - creating problems for their customers, counterparties, and the markets? Many commercial and investment banks panicked, stopped extending credit, and greatly damaged our economy and financial system.
A message to all of you angry taxpayers this election season with your cross-hairs trained on the likes of Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase: Did you notice that Fannie Mae just trundled up to the government bailout window for another $8.4 billion, days after Freddie Mac pulled down another $10.6 billion in taxpayer funds?
The biggest Wall Street banks slashed their small business loan portfolios by 9% between 2008 and 2009, more than double the rate at which they cut their overall lending, according to a government report released Thursday.
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner told lawmakers Tuesday that a proposed bank fee could help stabilize the financial system and recoup bailout costs by targeting banks that engage in more risky behavior.
Though the government's $700 billion Wall Street bailout package will be less of a financial burden than initially expected, plenty of big challenges remain for Main Street, a TARP watchdog said Tuesday.
The government hit the jackpot with the Treasury's plan to sell its stake in Citigroup. Good thing, too, because the remaining bailed-out banks may be hard-pressed to pay taxpayers back this year.
White House pay czar Kenneth Feinberg, who has clamped down on executive compensation at the nation's biggest bailout firms, now has a new target: any firm that accepted a government lifeline.
The government's unprecedented $700 billion economic bailout will actually cost taxpayers just 16% of that total, according to a Congressional Budget Office report released Wednesday.
Bank of America is leaving the Troubled Asset Relief Program with a bang.
President Obama called on Congress Tuesday to recycle $30 billion of the remaining Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds into a new government lending program offering super-cheap capital to community banks that boost their small business lending this year.
The watchdog charged with monitoring the government's $700 billion bailout unleashed one of his harshest criticisms of the program to date, questioning its overall effectiveness.
Guess what? The federal government will make money on bailing out the banks.
President Obama on Thursday called on Congress to tax the largest banks to ensure that U.S. taxpayers don't lose a penny from the federal bailout of the financial, auto and insurance industries over the past year.
The Obama administration wants to slap big banks and insurers on the wrist with a new tax. Oh wait, it's not a tax. It's a "financial crisis responsibility fee."
President Obama will propose a new tax on financial institutions Thursday to ensure that taxpayers who bailed out banks get paid back, according to a senior administration official.
President Obama, looking to recoup billions in expected losses from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, will announce a plan Thursday to impose fees on the country's biggest financial institutions, a senior administration official told CNN.
updated: Wed Jan 13 2010 09:10:00
The bailed-out banks are bracing for their paydays in the form of bonuses as well as the outrage among Americans.
President Obama, looking to recoup billions in expected losses from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, will announce a plan Thursday to impose fees on the country's biggest financial institutions, a senior administration official told CNN.
The last of the big banks have returned their bailout funds, but uncorking the champagne would be premature: taxpayers still have a lot of skin in the game, and getting paid back only gets more difficult from here on out.
President Obama is about to give the banks an earful about lending. But he may be a day late -- and $116 billion short.
Citigroup said Monday it has struck a deal with the government to return $20 billion in bailout money to taxpayers.
The U.S. auto industry has spent nearly 78% of the taxpayer funds lent to it by the Treasury Department through the Troubled Asset Relief Fund, according to a report released Thursday by a bailout overseer.
The controversial $700 billion federal bailout program will be extended through Oct. 3, 2010, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said Wednesday.
President Obama on Tuesday outlined a broad new proposal to try to spur jobs and give more help to Main Street consumers and businesses.
President Obama will propose using some of the $200 billion from the Troubled Asset Relief Program to support creating jobs, White House officials confirmed Monday.
The Obama Administration is expected to slash the estimated cost of the Troubled Asset Relief Program by $200 billion, effectively paving the way for what is expected be a massive federal jobs program.
President Obama is expected to announce Tuesday that he wants Congress to redirect a certain portion of leftover Wall Street bailout funds toward job creation measures, White House officials told CNN.
The Wells Fargo stagecoach doesn't look ready to roll out of TARP town just yet.
For the federal government, this has been the year of spending dangerously.
As the Obama administration considers how to approach the next phase of the $700 billion financial bailout, questions are being raised on Capitol Hill about whether it is helping the economy.
Thanksgiving is upon us. That makes it a perfect time to contemplate turkeys -- as in "What a turkey that deal was!"
Small business lending has been in freefall since the recession began. Concerned about the obstacles that places in the way of economic recovery, President Obama recently proposed a new federal effort to give community banks access to ultra-cheap government loans, which they can then use to expand their local business lending.
CIT Group is the first big bailout loss for taxpayers, but it won't be the last.
What do you know? The suits at troubled finance firm GMAC must like working for less money. How else to explain that GMAC is reportedly trying to get a third helping of government rescue funds? GMAC is one of the seven firms that the Obama administration announced sweeping changes in executive compensation for last week.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Tuesday he expects a wave of banks to return government bailout money to taxpayers soon.
The Obama administration's pay czar is imposing tough cuts on 175 big earners -- but many on Wall Street are still on track for a banner payday.
The $700 billion bailout will ultimately cost taxpayers billions of dollars, but the government stands to lose much more than the money it's pouring into companies.
President Obama is trying -- again -- to help small business get the cash they desperately need.
A government watchdog says federal officials weren't entirely honest with the public about the health of the first 9 financial firms that got federal bailouts, according to a report released Monday.
Taxpayers stand to lose between $100 billion and $200 billion on TARP -- Treasury's $700 billion financial market bailout.
Bailout cop Neil Barofsky is on the lookout for scammers and thieves.
Wall Street will celebrate a not-so-happy anniversary on Tuesday.
It's nearly one year after the big crash, and the financial system is still functioning.
When it comes to TARP, it's better late than never for some banks.
If you're looking for the most detailed look yet about how banks have used funds from the $700 billion bailout, you're in luck.
Banks that received bailout funds said they are trying to comply with executive pay curbs imposed by the Treasury Department, but the firms are worried about changing rules and an inability to keep top talent, according to a report relesed Wednesday by a TARP overseer.
The Obama administration pledged unprecedented transparency in its accounting of the $700 billion bank and auto bailouts (TARP) and the $787.2 billion Recovery Act. A lot of information has been made public but there are some key details where the transparency falls far short.
After rescuing the nation's banking system from utter disaster last fall, Washington now faces an arguably much trickier task: putting the bailout genie back in the bottle.
For some banks, the grim reality is that another dose of TARP may be their best shot at salvation.
One of the things they teach in Successful Investing 101 is to cut your losses short and let your winnings run. But when it comes to the Troubled Assets Relief Program, the government is stuck doing the opposite. Its gains are being cut short, because its most profitable investments are being closed out, yet its losses will continue running.
The markets are on a roll, but it's still a tad early for Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner to be counting his bailout winnings.
Even as top banks delivered abysmal performances last year, they still managed to pay out billions of dollars employee bonuses, according to a study published Thursday by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.
Don't look now, but the government has actually strung a couple modest victories together in its dealings with big banks.
Bank of New York Mellon is not a name familiar to retail customers, but its role in the financial system is important enough that it was one of the first nine banks persuaded to accept billions of dollars last October from the Troubled Asset Relief Program -- in Bank of New York Mellon's case, $3 billion. The company is the world's largest custodial bank, handling more than $20 trillion in assets for other banks and investors.
The top cop tracking the $700 billion bailout program said Monday that he's concerned federal officials are ignoring his proposals for preventing tax dollars from being wasted or pilfered.
Leaving behind TARP will likely mean a return to the status quo for many banks -- except for those hefty dividends of yesteryear.
Bailed out financial giant Citigroup said Wednesday it is going to the raise base salaries of its employees, although it is not planning to increase their total compensation.
Washington's most dramatic foray into the nation's financial sector since the Great Depression began on Oct. 13 with a misnamed acronym, an unwitting tribe of CEOs, and a confused staff of Treasury officials. It was a foreshadowing of the misadventure to come. "I don't even know who the 9 companies are. Do you?" Michele Davis, assistant secretary for public affairs, wrote in an e-mail sent at 7:15 a.m. on that history-making Monday. "No clue," Treasury chief of staff Jim Wilkinson responded. "Let me get the list."
Executives from some banks propped up by federal funds used company jets for personal purposes, according to a report published Friday.
A flurry of banks officially escaped the clutches of TARP after cutting checks to the U.S. government Wednesday, marking the first major payback of the billions of dollars in aid invested in banks last fall.
For some, the slow, steady demise of TARP cannot happen soon enough.
The Obama administration moved forward Wednesday on curbing runaway corporate pay practices, proposing new legislation aimed at giving shareholders a greater voice on executive pay and appointing a new so-called "pay czar."
Ten leading banks won approval to repay money from the government's controversial TARP program, regulators said Tuesday, which could represent approximately $68 billion in bailout funds returned to taxpayers.
Good riddance, TARP. It was nice knowing you.
Don't expect TARP-free banks to unleash a torrent of loans to cash-strapped consumers.
The big banks are back on their feet. How much credit should taxpayers get for their remarkable recovery?
Banks that were stress tested by the government earlier this year should undergo another round of examinations, a government watchdog group said Tuesday, amid signs that the U.S. economy may be deteriorating faster than first expected.
Sometimes the best investment is the one you didn't make. That's the case with one of the biggest investment pools in the country: the $700 billion Troubled Assets Relief Program, which Congress authorized last October to help combat the financial meltdown. The smartest thing the Treasury has done is to not buy troubled assets with the money. Instead, it has used most of it to buy preferred stock in banks to shore up their capital.
Jamie Dimon isn't one to pull his punches. In fact, the JPMorgan chief's willingness to criticize, for example, the shortcomings of retroactively changing government bailout programs can be refreshing -- and often spot-on.
At long last, the end of TARP may be here for some big banks.
Has the Federal Reserve been reading too many fairy tales?
Banks that took billions of dollars in taxpayer aid clamped down on credit during the month of March, according to a Treasury Department report published Monday.
With another $30 billion in taxpayer bailout money set to go to General Motors -- for a total of $50 billion -- the bankrupt automaker will become the second-largest bailout recipient after AIG.
Some lawmakers are questioning whether the Treasury Department has the power to recycle returned bailout dollars to fund new or expanded rescues for auto companies, life insurers and small banks.
Lending at the nation's top banks perked up in March, according to a government report issued Friday, even as the U.S. economy continued to be mired in a painful recession.
Treasury is offering bailout funds to big insurance companies, but some of the insurers are responding with little enthusiasm.
Six life insurance companies have qualified to receive billions of dollars in bailout money under the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program, a Treasury Department spokesman said Thursday.
Six life insurance companies have qualified to receive billions of dollars in bailout money under the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
With the stress tests behind them, banking regulators now face the potentially thornier issue of deciding which banks, if any, should be allowed to repay government funds.
Citigroup said Tuesday it authorized $8.2 billion in lending to U.S. consumers and businesses so far this year backed by taxpayer funding.
Is something very wrong with our financial system when the nation's biggest banks are talking about seven-figure bonuses while ever more Americans are losing their jobs? Millions of people seem to think so: If we could calculate an outrage index, it would be marching toward an all-time high. But before we institute public floggings for bankers, let's take a closer look at who or what is really to blame.
Even in this chilly economic climate, megabanks like Wells Fargo and Citigroup have somehow managed to make money.
Bankers itching to put TARP in the rearview mirror are finding it hard to make a quick getaway.
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