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John Paulson and George Soros Score Big Selling OneWest Bank For $3.4 Billion Comment Now Follow Comments A gang made up of some of Wall Street’s biggest names and formed by former Goldman Sachs partner Steve Mnuchin is set to realize a big score from the sale of OneWest Bank to CIT Group CIT +11.19% for $3.4 billion. Hedge fund billionaires John Paulson and George Soros were part of the group that together with buyout baron Christopher Flowers and billionaire Michael Dell bought the assets in 2009 of the former IndyMac, one of the nation’s largest bank failures ever, from...

Commercial Lending Giant CIT Files Bankruptcy Government to likely lose $2.3 billion it spent to prop company up last year NEW YORK - Lender CIT Group has filed for bankruptcy protection, in an effort to restructure its debt while trying to keep loans flowing to the thousands of mid-sized and small businesses. CIT made the filing in New York bankruptcy court Sunday, after a debt-exchange offer to bondholders failed. CIT said in a statement that its bondholders have overwhelmingly approved a prepackaged reorganization plan which will reduce total debt by $10 billion while allowing the company to continue to do...

Update | 3:46 p.m. Three months ago, the CIT Group barely averted what it considered to be a ruinous bankruptcy filing that would likely have put the 101-year-old lender out of business. On Sunday afternoon, the company filed for Chapter 11 — but under a so-called prepackaged bankruptcy plan that will enable it to emerge from court protection by the end of the year, under the control of its debtholders. (Read the filing after the jump.) The filing, made in a Manhattan federal court, will still mean much pain for many parties, beginning with taxpayers. CIT received $2.3 billion in...

The survival of one of the nation’s largest commercial lenders, the CIT Group, was thrown into doubt late Wednesday after federal officials rebuffed pleas to rescue the struggling company a second time. Unless a buyer emerges for CIT — a prospect that seems unlikely — the century-old lender could founder, even after it received a $2.33 billion taxpayer-financed bailout in December. The plight of CIT, which provides loans to about a million small and midsize companies, particularly in the sagging retail sector, poses a crucial test of the Obama administration’s attempts to stabilize the nation’s financial industry.

Officials at CIT Group, a lender to small and midsize businesses, tried to work out a plan to calm markets and convince customers and investors that it can work its way out of a liquidity crunch amid a concern that hundreds of small and midsize business customers may rush to withdraw funds or draw down credit lines. CIT officials met over the weekend with members of Congress, government officials and regulators.

With the economic crisis, and the collapse of AIG, Citigroup, Bank of America, JPMorgan, Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, General Motors, Chrysler and other leading US firms, and with bailouts that have put taxpayers on the hook for trillions of dollars, many contend that this is the time to stand with advocates of open government who have been concerned about the growing secrecy of the US government. Without question, the time has come for the American people to demand increased public transparency and access to government records in all parts of government as compared to the current attitude regarding...

Bank Layoffs: In a continuing effort to shore up its finances, Citigroup could cut 5% to 10% of its 320,000 employees starting this week.