Manufacturing giants aim to protect industrial banks

http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/91793-manufacturing-giants-aim-to-protect-industrial-banks

The Corporate Lobbyists are going to ensure the death of this country

Business giants General Electric, Toyota and dozens of others are on the verge of a major victory over President Barack Obama’s push to rein in their financial arms.


As part of its overhaul of the financial system, the Obama administration originally wanted to close what it considered a regulatory loophole. Federal laws do not typically allow banking and commerce to mix, with a notable exception: roughly 40 industrial loan companies (ILCs) chartered in a handful of states, primarily Utah and Nevada.

The administration’s proposal prompted a multimillion-dollar lobbying effort by some of the biggest names in corporate America, which feared new regulations would hurt their bottom line and choke off credit to their customers.


And while few critics, including the Cambridge center, allege the companies spurred the financial crisis, some firms have required federal intervention.
GMAC Bank, once an industrial loan company, faced mounting losses and in November 2008 moved to transform itself into a bank holding company in order to receive a bailout, according to the Congressional Oversight Panel over the $700 billion financial rescue package. Regulators approved the request in December 2008, and GMAC got billions of dollars in aid.


CIT Group, which had roughly $9 billion in assets in its loan company, made a similar conversion in 2008 and benefited from federal bailout efforts.


In mid-March, Utah banking authorities took over Advanta Bank Corp., which had $1.5 billion in assets, after finding it was insolvent and was not able to raise sufficient capital. The FDIC took receivership of the bank.

Major U.S. banks masked risk levels: report

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Major-US-banks-masked-risk-rb-3309707061.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=7&asset=&ccode=

Oh look it wasn't just Leman, everyone was doing it.
It's called fraud and Timmy and Ben had no idea..........right?
Makes you wonder what else Tim and Ben had no idea about either, doesn't it.


Major U.S. banks temporarily lowered their debt levels just before reporting in the past five quarters, making it appear their balance sheets were less risky, the Wall Street Journal said, citing data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

The paper said on Friday 18 banks, including Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - News), Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - News), J.P. Morgan Chase (NYSE:JPM - News) Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - News) and Citigroup (NYSE:C - News), understated the debt levels used to fund securities trades by lowering them an average of 42 percent at the end of each period.

The banks had increased their debt in the middle of successive quarters, it said.

Citi, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley were not immediately available for comment when contacted by Reuters outside regular U.S. business hours

No profits? Here's a fat bonus!

http://money.cnn.com/2009/07/30/news/companies/bonuses_tarp/index.htm

And where did they get the money from? You and your children's children my taxpaying friends.
You saved their lifestyle on the perils of your own.

Citi and Merrill Lynch paid big bonuses despite losing money last year while fellow TARP recipients Goldman and JPMorgan paid more than they earned.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Even as top banks delivered abysmal performances last year, they still managed to pay out billions of dollars in bonuses to employees, according to a study published Thursday by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

In an analysis of compensation practices of the original nine banks that received money under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, most financial firms paid out compensation that was nowhere close to their overall yearly performance.

Citigroup (C, Fortune 500), for example, which suffered more than $27 billion worth of losses in 2008, paid an estimated $5.33 billion worth of bonuses last year, according to Cuomo's report. Citigroup has been one of the biggest recipients of government aid, taking in $45 billion in TARP funds. Taxpayers now own a third of the bank.

Several banks that were profitable last year paid out bonuses that were substantially higher than what they earned. Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500), which has come under significant scrutiny recently over this year's bonus pool, paid out some $4.8 billion in bonuses despite earning just $2.3 billion. The company collected $10 billion under the TARP program but has since paid it back.