Free Republic

Republicans are the adults in Congress while the Democrats, liberal to the core, will never admit we are being set up for another financial crisis It is a cliché, but true, that history repeats itself. This is largely due to the failure of each new generation to learn anything from the past as well as the human tendency toward the bad habits of greed and power-seeking. Only the names and faces change. That is why the next financial crisis is entirely predictable. On October 23, The Wall Street Journal had an article, “Relaxed Mortgage-Lending Rules Clear Final Hurdle.” The financial...

Oct 10 (Reuters) - Regulators from the United States and the United Kingdom will get together in a war room next week to see if they can cope with any possible fall-out when the next big bank topples over, the two countries said on Friday. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and the UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, on Monday will run a joint exercise simulating how they would prop up a large bank with operations in both countries that has landed in trouble. Also taking part are Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and Bank of England Governor Mark Carney,...

There was a time, not really all that long ago, when the local banker was a pillar of the community. A good relationship with him (and it was always a him) was essential to every business owner. Not only that, every potential homeowner had to trek down to his office in hopes of getting a mortgage. Countless workers walked into the branch every week to cash their paychecks, make deposits to a Christmas Club account and more. That world doesn’t exist anymore.... As the reality begins to sink in, the big banks will use their political clout to try and...

<p>You want proof that it's tough to get a mortgage? Ben Bernanke, the nation's top central banker until the start of this year, is having trouble refinancing his home.</p> <p>Bernanke spoke of his problems during an appearance Thursday at a conference in Chicago hosted by the National Investment Center for Senior Housing and Care.</p>

When is the U.S. banking system going to crash? I can sum it up in three words. Watch the derivatives. It used to be only four, but now there are five "too big to fail" banks in the United States that each have more than 40 trillion dollars in exposure to derivatives. Today, the U.S. national debt is sitting at a grand total of about 17.7 trillion dollars, so when we are talking about 40 trillion dollars we are talking about an amount of money that is almost unimaginable. And unlike stocks and bonds, these derivatives do not represent "investments"...

The worst economic turmoil since the Great Depression is not a natural phenomenon but a man-made disaster in which we all played a part. In the second part of a week-long series looking behind the slump, Guardian City editor Julia Finch picks out the individuals who have led us into the current crisis

nvestors have pulled money out of the UK at the fastest pace seen since the financial crisis of 2008 amid fears that Scotland will break away from the Union, triggering a broader political crisis.

The FDIC and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency are set to release new liquidity rules today. The rules will redefine the types of liquid assets giant Wall Street banks must hold to meet the new Basel III Liquidity Coverage Rule. The Federal regulators are expected to emphasize banks holding short-term U.S. Treasury securities in order to meet a bank run or credit crunch lasting 30 days. The state treasurers’ panic over the rule is justified. According to press reports, the Federal regulators may exclude municipal bonds issued by states, counties, cities and school districts from the category...

ZURICH (Reuters) - At least 10 Swiss banks have withdrawn from a U.S. program aimed at settling a tax dispute between them and the United States, Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag said on Sunday, quoting unnamed sources. Around 100 Swiss banks came forward at the end of last year to work with U.S. authorities in a program brokered by the Swiss government to help the banks make amends for aiding tax evasion. "At least 10 banks that had decided at the end of 2013 to pay a fine have withdrawn their decision," NZZ am Sonntag said, quoting unnamed lawyers and...

Once again, our Chicago-style Attorney General has proven that corruption is the basic foundation upon which the modern Democrat Party is built. Eric Holder, the nationÂ’s top extortionist officer, has been running around the financial sector suing banks for anything (and everything) he can get away with. Ally Bank paid millions for alleged racist lending practices (an allegation the DOJ made without ever looking at loan portfolios), JP Morgan has shelled out billions for various anti-Obama comments regulatory infractions, and Bank of America just paid a $16.6 billion fine for their government-mandated role in the financial crises of 2008.Aside from...

... The reasoning was very simple: in a country (and world) drowning with debt, there are only two options to extinguish said debt: inflate it away or default. Anything else is kicking the can while making the problem even worse. ... Moments ago a stunning article appearing in the "Foreign Affairs" publication of the influential and policy-setting Council of Foreign Relations, titled "Print Less but Transfer More: Why Central Banks Should Give Money Directly to the People." ... In it we read the now conventional admission of failure by Keynesians, who however, unwilling to actually admit they have been wrong,...

SunTrust Banks Inc. is shuttering its fraud-response call center group in Orlando and shedding more than 100 jobs, the bank confirmed Wednesday. Atlanta-based SunTrust, the largest bank in Central Florida, handed out pink slips to 105 employees on Tuesday. The effective layoff date is Oct. 31, according to documents filed with the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. "Difficult decisions must be made to increase operational efficiencies and decrease expenses to better position the company for the future," SunTrust told employees in the layoff notice. The bank posted a $400 million profit on revenue of $2.2 billion in the second quarter,...

Word has leaked that JPMorgan Chase and possibly four other banks have been hacked. Details are scarce at this point, but the FBI and other government agencies are involved in the investigation. The hack allegedly took place earlier in August and hackers have siphoned off huge amounts of sensitive data from Chase, including checking and savings account information. Even more concerning, sources say that the attack goes "far beyond the capabilities of ordinary hackers." Given the timing, some security experts are speculating it was the work of high-level Russian hackers. According to an inside source, there has been no increase...

The $16.65 billion settlement by Bank of America over financial-crisis-era mortgage securities "highlights a pattern of the government extorting the banks," Dick Kovacevich said on CNBC this week. Kovacevich is the former Wells Fargo chairman and CEO. I've known him for years. He ran a great bank. He kept Wells Fargo clean during the credit meltdown. And, unusual for a big-bank CEO, he strongly supports free-market principles. Kovacevich went on to say, "It's definitely politics. It has nothing to do with justice or restitution to the innocent victims. In fact, more of the money is going to the coffers of...

RANT! It's a frustrating situation to have in your hands a check from the US Treasury for over $141,000 and you can't do a darned thing with it except frame it and hang it on the wall as a souvenir. My MIL passed away in 2011, and my wife (as the only surviving relative) was named in the will as the executor of the estate and successor to the trust. The will was filed with the courts in L.A. and the long process began. We paid the IRS $240K the first year in estimated estate taxes along with a request...

Employees on Wall Street, and those working at other financial institutions, are concerned about keeping their jobs. But a recent survey showed that financial services companies may underrate the value employees put on job security. This comes as the threat of layoffs is seen at many top banks. For instance, JPMorgan is laying off hundreds of tech-support workers, and the Bank of America is letting staff go, too, as well as Citigroup and Bank of New York Mellon. Laura Sejen, a managing director at Towers Watson, which released the recent survey, told eFinancialCareers, “US employees working in financial services indicate...

Following a merger between Mountain West Bank and First Interstate Bank, several Mountain West locations will be closing across the state ... While the merger of the two well known Montana banks is still pending, Interstate Bank has announced a list of banks that will be closing or relocating

The Federal Reserve created a monster $4.3 trillion balance sheet, up by $3 trillion from 2008, through quantitative easing. QE ends this fall. Now the Fed is trying to figure out what to do with this monster. Their thinking seems to be that they can maintain control over it by paying banks more money to not make loans. So let's get this right. Households and businesses are attempting to borrow money from banks. But the Federal Reserve may eventually pay banks $100 billion per year not to lend to Main Street. Politicians will have a field day with that. The...

Following this morning's farce of huge investor demand and then Bank of Portugal's Costa 'hoping' for demand from investors willing to pile more money on losing money into Espirito Santo, it appears things have escalated rapidly... *ESPIRITO SANTO INTERNATIONAL SAYS IT CAN'T MEET OBLIGATIONS *ES INTERNATIONAL APPLIES FOR `CONTROLLED MANAGEMENT' REGIME *ES INTERNATIONAL APPLIES FOR REGIME UNDER LUXEMBOURG LAW The "controlled management" application is the equivalent of declaring a breakup or controlled bankruptcy process (as we explained here). ESI is the ultimate HoldCo in the Banco Espirito Santo family.

From small businesses on Main Street to the halls of Congress and the state legislatures, concern is mounting over Operation Choke Point, a coordinated effort among the Department of Justice (DOJ) and bank regulators to cut off banking services for a variety of legal, state-regulated businesses. This week alone, there are three congressional hearings on Operation Choke Point, hearings which will hopefully bring an end this misguided operation. Operation Choke Point is one of the most dangerous programs I have experienced in my 45 years of service as a bank regulator, bank attorney and consultant, and bank board member. Operating...