WHITE TRASH isn't ruining this country ... LIBTURDS are the cause of all America's problems.
As usual ... LIBTURDS think every business should be run according to their guidelines.
Only problem is ... they aren't smart enough to own a business or be employed on any level
beyond basic third grade skills.
Consumers have many choices in America. If they don't like the rules and regulations set by
one bank, company or retail establishment, they can go somewhere else.
That's just basic everyday living in America. Accept it.
ANOTHER THING .. it'll be a cold day in hell when I "beg for forgiveness" from the likes of Nation
... or any LIBTURD.
I KNOW WHY, I KNOW WHY .. he's using the usual "incite the peons" move utilized by all Marxist,
Liberal, Socialists !!!
As long as Banks follow all government guidelines, they should be able to operate the way they want.
If consumers don't want to do business with them, then they have alternatives. Credit Unions are
looking for customers. The same applies to businesses, large and small. The government doesn't
take any risks in starting or operating a business. They should keep their noses out of legitimate
operations. That includes not forcing Banks or mortgage companies to issue loans to unqualified
people who "deserve their slice of the American dream," but who will never be able to repay the loan.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Citigroup Inc. said Monday it is repaying $20 billion in bailout money it received from the Treasury Department,
freeing the banking giant from the close scrutiny and pay restrictions that came with the rescue program.
The government will also sell its stake in the company.
The New York-based bank was among the hardest hit by the credit crisis and rising loan defaults and got one
of the largest bailouts of any banks during the financial crisis. The government gave it $45 billion in loans and
agreed to protect losses on nearly $300 billion in risky investments.
WELLS FARGO REMAINS THE LAST NATIONAL BANK THAT HAS YET TO PAY BACK ITS BAILOUT MONEY.
Citi is selling $20.5 billion in stock and debt to repay the government. It only has to pay back $20 billion because
the remaining $25 billion was converted into a 34 percent ownership stake in the bank earlier this year. The
government plans to sell that entire stake — which has risen in value by more than 20 percent — during the next
year. The loss-sharing agreement will also end as part of the plan.
THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT IS IN LINE TO EARN ABOUT $13 BILLION IN PROFIT ON ITS SUPPORT OF
CITIGROUP, DEPENDING ON HOW MUCH IT MAKES SELLING THE STOCK, said a Treasury official, who spoke
on condition of anonymity in advance of President Barack Obama's meeting with bank officials.
After repaying the funds, Citi will no longer be subject to pay restrictions and other conditions of the bailout
program. However, the repayment comes at a heavy cost. Raising the new capital will significantly dilute current
shareholders' stake in the company.
Citi's shares fell 25 cents, or 6.3 percent, to $3.70 in morning trading Monday.
By approving the repayment, the government is essentially saying Citi is on strong enough financial footing to
stand on its own. It's a far cry from concerns at the beginning of the year when some analysts were saying
Citi could fail completely and be taken over by the government.
While the government believes in the strength of Citi, the bank is still facing losses and trying to streamline
operations to maintain profitability that has been tenuous throughout the year, even as other big banks recovered.
The repayment by Citi comes as top executives from some of the nation's biggest banks meet Monday with
Obama. The president is asking the executives to back his efforts to tighten financial regulations, designed to
rein in the risky behavior that led to the credit crisis. Obama could face difficulty though, after describing bankers
as "fat cats" in a "60 Minutes" interview broadcast Sunday.
Citigroup received the bailout as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The program was launched late last
year to help ailing banks manage through the peak of the credit crisis.
Nearly 700 banks of all sizes participated in the program. Most of the largest banks, like JPMorgan Chase & Co.
and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., quickly paid back the money they received because it carried restrictions such
as caps on executive pay and dividends.
Many banks have bristled at strict government oversight.
Citi's announcement comes just days after Bank of America Corp. completed the repayment of $45 billion it
received as part of TARP.
San Francisco-based Wells Fargo is now the last large national bank that hasn't paid back the government.
It received $25 billion. Like Citi, Wells Fargo was one of the initial eight banks to participate in TARP.
TARP RECIPIENTS HAVE SO FAR PAID BACK $116 BILLION. THAT'S OUT OF A TOTAL OF $453 BILLION
THAT THE GOVERNMENT EXTENDED TO BANKS, INSURERS, AUTOMAKERS AND OTHER COMPANIES
UNDER THE PROGRAM.
While the TARP repayment reduces the tight scrutiny of regulators, it also now leaves the bank more exposed
to potential losses. The end of the loss-sharing agreement on about $300 billion of risky investments could
hinder Citigroup's continuing efforts to maintain profitability.
The Treasury official said Citigroup never had to tap the loss-sharing agreement, and the government has
taken no losses on the Citi investment.
Citigroup has been among the hardest hit banks by the credit crisis and continues to see consumer loan
defaults pile up. Loan losses cost the bank $8 billion during the third quarter.
It is widely expected consumers will continue to miss payments at rapid rates in 2010 because the job
market remains weak and wages are not going up. Loan defaults are likely to remain high industrywide.
Citigroup reported a $101 million profit during the third quarter before accounting for $288 million in preferred
stock dividends and the debt exchange offer that gave the government its stake in the bank. Including those
costs, Citi lost $3.24 billion during the quarter ended Sept. 30.
Paying back TARP money will cut dividend costs by about $1.7 billion annually, the bank said. Citi will take an
$8 billion pretax loss to pay back the bailout money.
Citi is issuing $20.5 billion in capital and debt to help repay its obligations, including the $17 billion of common
stock. Investors will have the option to buy an extra $2.55 billion in stock to cover any over-allotments.
The bank also said it will award $1.7 billion in stock equivalents to employees instead of cash they would
have ordinarily received as part of their compensation. Under the TARP restrictions cash payments for
executives were restricted. Citi had said in recent months it was revising the mix of cash and stock in its
compensation packages to meet the requirements. Those restrictions would be lifted after repaying TARP
money.
The government is selling the first $5 billion of common stock it holds in the bank at the same time the bank
sells the $17 billion in stock. The remainder of the government's stake will be sold "in an orderly fashion"
over the next six to 12 months, Citi said in a statement.
THE GOVERNMENT STANDS TO EARN ABOUT $5.7 BILLION IN PROFIT BY SELLING ITS PORTION OF CITI
SHARES, BASED ON FRIDAY'S CLOSING PRICE OF $3.95.
He supported ACORN up until the time they were caught on video
doing what they do best ... break the law.
He forced banks to be irresponsible ... now he wants to take over
the banking industry.
The U.S. is in a tailspin alright ... totally caused by OBAMA and his cronies.
What a total JERK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Obama blasts banks for opposing financial overhaul
By DARLENE SUPERVILLE, Associated Press
12.12.09
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama singled out financial institutions for causing much of the economic
tailspin and criticized their opposition to tighter federal oversight of their industry.
While applauding House passage Friday of overhaul legislation and urging quick Senate action, Obama expressed
frustration with banks that were helped by a taxpayer bailout and now are "fighting tooth and nail with their
lobbyists" against new government controls.
In his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday, Obama said the economy is only now beginning to recover
from the "irresponsibility" of Wall Street institutions that "gambled on risky loans and complex financial products"
in pursuit of short-term profits and big bonuses with little regard for long-term consequences.
"It was, as some have put it, risk management without the management," he said.
The president also told CBS' "60 Minutes" that "the people on Wall Street still don't get it. ... They're still puzzled
why it is that people are mad at the banks. Well, let's see. You guys are drawing down $10, $20 million bonuses
after America went through the worst economic year ... in decades and you guys caused the problem," Obama
said in an excerpt released in advance of Sunday night's broadcast of his interview.
The House bill, which passed 223-202, would grant the government new powers to split up companies that
threaten the economy, create an agency to oversee consumer banking transactions and shine a light into shadow
financial markets that have escaped federal oversight.
Obama is seeking swift approval in the Senate "because we should never again find ourselves in the position in
which our only choices are bailing out banks or letting our economy collapse."
No House Republicans voted for the bill, and 27 Democrats voted against it. Opponents argue that the broad
legislation overreaches and would institutionalize bailouts for the financial industry.
The Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee is working on its own version of the package.
In his address, Obama contended that the worst economic downturn since the Depression wouldn't have
happened if the rules governing Wall Street been clearer and enforcement tougher.
Obama singled out Republicans and industry lobbyists for trying to block the changes.
Last week, top House Republicans urged more than 100 financial industry lobbyists to work harder to
defeat the bill. Lobbyists have spent more than $300 million this year trying to scuttle the bill.
Opponents say that the changes would limit consumer choice and that added federal oversight would
stunt financial market innovation.
Obama suggested that was one risk worth taking.
"Americans don't choose to be victimized by mysterious fees, changing terms and pages and pages
of fine print. And while innovation should be encouraged, risky schemes that threaten our entire
economy should not," he said. "We can't afford to let the same phony arguments and bad habits of
Washington kill financial reform and leave American consumers and our economy vulnerable to
another meltdown."
The 30 high-ranking executives will instead receive stock that cannot be sold for at least five years, the New York-based bank said Thursday.
But the restrictions won't affect the more than 31,000 other employees at the bank, potentially including some of its top traders who could be rewarded handsomely for helping Goldman turn big profits this year.
Banking bonuses have been a hot-button political issue. Financial markets have recovered much faster than the broader economy, and the nation's unemployment rate sits at 10 percent. Surging financial markets allowed companies like Goldman Sachs to rebound and start posting big quarterly profits, while setting aside billions of dollars to pay out year-end bonuses.
Goldman has also been criticized for using $10 billion in government bailout money to help ramp up its aggressive trading practices. Goldman received the money late last year as part of the $700 billion bank rescue program. Goldman paid back the money this summer, allowing it to escape restrictions on compensation.
Trying to stem the negative publicity over the issue, Goldman has said in recent months it was reviewing its pay policies.
"The measures that we are announcing today reflect the compensation principles that we articulated at our shareholders' meeting in May," Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein said in a statement.
A Goldman spokesman confirmed the change predates recent moves by some European governments increasing or threatening to increase taxes on bank bonuses, which could impact Goldman employees overseas.
On Wednesday, British officials said they are levying a one-time tax of 50 percent on any bonuses paid to bankers in the country above 25,000 pounds ($40,642.50).
A British treasury spokesman said the tax applies to "all forms of bonuses, including shares, gifts, any loans, paid as discretionary." It is calculated based on the value of the shares or options when they are awarded.
That means Goldman employees working in Britain may have to give up half of their year-end bonuses.
Seven of Goldman's top 30 executives who will receive stock bonuses are based in London, a person familiar with the list said. The person asked for anonymity because it was not publicly disclosed exactly which executives are being affected by the change in pay structure. The new tax would prove costly for those seven if they must pay cash to offset the value of stock they receive but are unable to sell it for five years.
Mike Shah, a partner at Jones Day in the firm's executive compensation group, said banks will look very closely at every possible option so employees can avoid paying the tax, ranging from renaming the bonuses to deferring them to a later date.
Alan Johnson, managing director of Wall Street compensation consultant Johnson Associates, said Goldman and all other banks will have to consider possibilities as drastic as moving offices to another country.
Johnson warns that such taxes may not be a one-time event, which can scare off banks. "If you do it once, no one believes you wouldn't do it again," Johnson said.
Goldman had set aside $16.71 billion, or about 47 percent of net revenue, through the first nine months of the year for compensation. That includes not only bonuses, but also salaries and associated costs such as benefits and payroll taxes.
The exact size of the bonus pool will not be disclosed until the middle of January when Goldman releases its fourth-quarter results, the Goldman spokesman said. The bank has yet to finalize how much it will pay out in year-end bonuses, he added.
The majority of compensation for Goldman's senior management, which includes top managers across all its business units, has traditionally been paid out in year-end bonuses.
Aside from not being able to sell the stock for five years, the 30 executives' stock awards could be taken back by the bank in cases where the employees took too large a risk or failed to raise concerns about risk in the company, Goldman said.
Politicians have chastised Wall Street bankers for taking excessive risk, which resulted in big bonuses but also helped lead to the credit crisis and recession.
