Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) claims to have evidence supporting Ken Lewis’ original contention that he as threatened by government officials for contemplating pulling out of the BofA-Merrill deal.  Let’s review.  Two weeks ago, Lewis pointed the finger at Paulson and Bernanke in testimony before Congress (see my post).  This came after claims of government coercion [...]

This video of US Bancorp CEO Richard Davis on CNBC is good in getting to the motivations and thinking of bank CEOs now repaying TARP monies.  Davis sounds articulate, well-prepped and diplomatic and makes a lot of sense.  You couldn’t ask for a better spokesperson to make the case.
The bottom line: Big banks exiting TARP [...]

The Washington Post is reporting that the Obama administration has rejected initial pleas from the State of California for U.S. Government aid. However, the post report reveals that Tim Geithner told California it must make get its fiscal house in order, suggesting that aid would be forthcoming if it did so.

Yesterday, I argued that allowing banks to repay TARP funds meant a continuation of overcapacity in financial services, which was a direct contributor to the credit crisis through its dampening impact on unlevered returns.  Some of the banks now free of the TARP restrictions are arguably still undercapitalised, but have been made to look better [...]

This e-mail came to my inbox from the FDIC last night:
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced today the approval of GMAC Financial Services to participate in the Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program (TLGP) allowing the company to issue up to $7.4 billion in new FDIC-guaranteed debt. GMAC will pay a fee to the FDIC for [...]

If you were operating under the illusion that the financial services industry was going to receive less in political favors from the Obama Administration, then you should take a look at this Tech Ticker video. Yesterday, the insurance industry got into the TARP program to the tune of $22 billion. What is interesting about [...]

We needed regulators like this when the bubble was being formed.  Elizabeth Warren is truly a breath of fresh air.

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In case you missed it, this is Tim Geithner talking stress tests this past Wednesday on Charlie Rose.

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Elizabeth Warren, the chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel to oversee TARP, goes ballistic in this interview with the guys from Tech Ticker. She gets right to the heart of what is wrong with the banking industry.  You can tell she is very passionate about this issue.
Take a look.  Below are the videos in two [...]

If you haven’t noticed, the Treasury department seems to be leaking the results of the stress tests to reporters at the Wall Street Journal.  Richard Bove, a well-known bank analyst was on Bloomberg Radio this morning talking to Tom Keene and said he knows they have been leaking.  Yves Smith was on top of this [...]