Posted on 02/28/2009 4:49:29 PM PST by Libloather
Apologizing, Northern Trust to Pay Back Bailout Funds
By Tim State in News on February 28, 2009 12:27 PM
Northern Trust, after receiving $1.5 million in Troubled Asset Relief Program funds, has apologized for sponsoring the PGA Northern Trust Open golf tournament in Los Angeles last weekend, and has pledged to repay the bailout funds it has received. Northern Trust CEO Frederick Waddell wrote in a letter to U.S. Rep Barney Frank, D-Mass.:
We understand this is a time of great anxiety and financial distress, and your question regarding our support of an event such as the Northern Trust Open is legitimate. We deeply regret that some of the events associated with the Northern Trust Open have distracted from the positive nature of an event that has raised more than $50 million for charity since its inception. The event has been described as “lavish,” although Earth, Wind, and Fire were there to perform, so we’re thinking “lavish” is relative.
Northern Trust will be the first bank to pay back any TARP funds. Northern Trust’s loans and leases are up 21 percent from a year ago, and for 2008, posted net income of $795 million, up 9 percent from 2007. [Crain’s, Trib, WBBM, UPI]
This is the bank that loaned Obama the money for his REZCO house deal.
Well, it’s a good thing they are “de-TARPing” themselves. Now they won’t have government strings attached to them. It’s not worth having to listen to blithering idiots like Bawney Fwank try to micromanage your business.
LOL, you must've heard the parody of Abba's "Dancing Queen" on Rush last week !
I laughed so hard I nearly had a wreck.
Give back the Tarp money and tell them to fack right off!
Northern Trust is not only corrupt they are incompetent idiots of the highest order!
And on WHAT do you base that statement?
Northern Trust did not WANT the bail out money, but they were forced to take it, much like Wells Fargo was forced to take it.
It is WRONG for our government to tell private businesses how to market their products or services or how to reward their people.
My understanding is that Northern Trust did not want the money to begin with. They are a sound bank. Besides, are we to accept BLarney’s approval for everything they do? BLarney is one of the guys who put us in trouble to begin with!
Once.
Just once.
Just once, I wish one of these CEOs, who are supposedly to be so smart, brash and aggressive, would just tell Frank, Dodd, et al to FO.
Tell them that they are running successful companies, and Congress, which destroys everything it touches, is the biggest failure on the planet, and they have no business trying to tell us how to run our business.
Then declare, “This circus is over” and walk the hell out of the hearing.
If I was the CEO of Northern Trust, I would have had the $ 1.5 billion check on a poster board and thrown it on the floor in front of the Congresscritters, and said, “Here’s your TARP money back—you’ll need it to pay for all of youer useless pork projects!”
Is there no one in the boardrooms with any balls?
Dig a little deeper into Northern Trust and you will see what I mean about the corruption angle. It has been all over Fox News.
I'm watching it for the first time on C-Span.
They’re doing it so their execs can receive unlimited compensation.
That's their business - and no one else's.
Except the shareholders
Shareholders invest in success. Success is rewarded in many ways.
I can’t help but think how stupid people sound when they try to sell that “forced to take billions of dollars” kind of crap.
Have you EVER sat in the same room with a government regulator?
You need to get off your high horse, and understand the world from other peoples points of view.
IF a CEO resisted a government regulator, and the regulator retaliated, there would be hell to pay.
The shareholders would be very upset, and the company would be in trouble.
I think, as time goes on, our corporate leaders will eventually be able to stand up to these government busy bodies, but you act as though it would be easy.
You would FOLD, in a heart beat, under the pressure that these guys can bring to bear.
Tool.
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