banks

Just last week, we saw a parade of banks exiting the dreaded TARP program set up last year by the U.S. government and used to temporarily recapitalize the U.S. banking system.  The banks were able to do so in no small measure because…

This is number 40 (earlier the headline read First National Bank of Kansas, but has since been corrected). First National Bank of Anthony, Anthony, Kansas was closed today by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which appointed…

Here are the press releases (emphasis added). This makes 39 institutions this year. First, Cooperative: Cooperative Bank, Wilmington, North Carolina was closed today by the North Carolina Office of Commissioner of Banks, which appointed…

Note from 15 Sep 2010: On the second anniversary of the Lehman bankruptcy, it bears noting that the sway government has over the banking sector has diminished. The Big Bank CEO Phil has done the prudent thing regarding lending standards.…

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…

If you listen to the criticism from the right and from the left, from pro-regulation and anti-regulation pundits, you can understand the political constraints which produced the white paper which the President unveiled yesterday.  Given…

This is the video via Bloomberg News.  I will have more to say later today or tomorrow and provide a clip from a BBC Radio Five Live interview I did immediately following the speech.

Having read through the draft of President Obama’s financial regulatory proposal, my initial reaction is largely positive.  He sets the right tone and says all of the right things.  However, the devil is in the details and we will need to…

A full draft is now available at the New York Times here.  Speech is scheduled for 12:30PM with Obama speaking at 12:50PM.  I expect to be giving a reaction via BBC News Five Live at 1:20PM EDT/620 UK time.

This morning I was reading Simon Johnson’s excellent post “President Obama’s Regulatory Reforms Announcement: A Viewer’s Guide” about what Barack Obama should say when he makes his regulatory reform pitch today at 12:30 PM.  I agree…