The Federal Reserve is expected this week to release a set of proposed rules detailing how much reserve capital big banks will need to keep on hand in the future.
Columnists are the heart and soul of any journalistic enterprise.The unfettered voices of a newspaper or magazine, they opine, snarl, and otherwise shout from the treetops.The best columnists have a mastery of subject, an ironclad take, and complete command of the written word. As Fortune columnist Geoff Colvin once told me, to succeed as a writer you must grab the reader by the lapels, shake him, and never let him go.
Regulators were under pressure to cut the biggest banks loose from the Wall Street bailout program, a federal watchdog said in a report issued Friday.
The chairman of the FDIC is not usually a household name. But the last few years have been anything but usual.
The new big fight among Wall Street banks and their regulators is about how much extra cash banks should keep around for rainy days.
President Obama will nominate Martin J. Gruenberg, currently vice chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., to succeed Sheila Bair as chairman of the banking regulator, the White House announced Friday.
FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair believes "urgent action" is needed to lower government debt and forestall the next financial crisis, according to an op-ed piece published Friday.
The government's list of troubled banks hit its highest level since 1993 during the second quarter, although the pace of growth continued to slow, according to a government report released Tuesday.
This article is adapted from "Banktown: The Rise and Struggles of Charlotte's Big Banks" by Rick Rothacker, published by John F. Blair, Publisher (Winston-Salem).
Gadfly analyst Dick Bove rarely disappoints when he unholsters his guns. On Tuesday, the Rochdale Research VP put out a report accusing Sheila Bair, head of the FDIC, of completely misunderstanding her job. "Unlike the heads of the Federal Reserve (FRB) who have repeatedly acknowledged their failure to act before the financial crisis, the FDIC has never done so," he wrote. And he suggested that Bair, "knew what was wrong but did nothing about it." We caught up with Bove yesterday to get his dependably provocative view on Bair, Bernanke, and the state of the U.S. banks.
The government's list of troubled banks climbed to its highest level since 1992 in the first quarter, although the pace of growth moderated, according to a government report published Thursday.
One of the nation's top banking regulators has taken a swipe at what has become a signature piece of Senate Democrats' Wall Street reform package: cracking down on complex financial products.
Washington's quest to get big banks to make more loans only seems to get more challenging.
More than 700 banks, or nearly one out of every 11, are at risk of going under, according to a government report published Tuesday.
Ben Bernanke and the rest of the Federal Reserve may think that low interest rates can continue to be just what the economy needs to get back on track.
The nation's top banking regulator is considering a new rule which could require lenders to pony up if they rely on potentially risky pay practices.
New York State is known as the nation's financial capital, yet nearly one in 10 of its residents do not have a checking or savings account.
Despite the frenetic pace of bank failures this year, 552 lenders are still at risk of going under, according to a government report published Tuesday.
The tally of bank failures easily broke past the No. 100 milestone on Friday night, with regulators announcing the year's 106th closure.
The government insurance fund designed to protect consumer bank deposits will likely stay in the red through 2012, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. chief Sheila Bair said Wednesday.
The banking bust is getting mighty costly.
It's time for Sheila Bair to stop worrying about bailout politics and hit Uncle Sam up for some dough.
One of the fundamental tenets of a free market is that in an auction the rules of the game should not give one bidder a fundamental advantage over another bidder. Sadly, that may not have been the case last month when the FDIC oversaw the sale of Texas-based Guaranty Bank. On August 21, Sheila Bair, the chair of the FDIC, declared Spain's second-largest bank -- Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA -- the winner of a spirited auction to buy Guaranty Bank instead of a consortium of U.S. investors including Blackstone Group and TPG.
Regulators closed subsidiaries of Irwin Financial Corporation in Kentucky and Indiana Friday, bringing the total number of bank failures this year to 94, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
The problem bank list is just about the only part of the industry that's growing right now.
The number of institutions on the government's so-called "problem bank" list surpassed 400 in the latest quarter, climbing to its highest level in 15 years, according to a government report published Thursday.
Regulators cleaning up after bank failures showed Wednesday how far they're willing to reach out for help.
Regulators shelved a controversial plan that aimed to cleanse banks' balance sheets of toxic assets.
The government's list of troubled banks swelled in the first quarter, climbing to its highest level in nearly 15 years, regulators said Wednesday.
Don't look now, but the nation's banking industry is about to get a whole lot smaller.
Big banks aren't the only ones with powerful lobbyists that know how to pull strings in Washington.
Banks lining up to repay bailout funds are easing away from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s debt insurance plan, a program that helped banks through last fall's financial storm -- and has made money for the FDIC to boot.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. chief Sheila Bair reiterated calls for creating a system that would allow regulators to dismantle a large financial institution.
Top banking regulators offered a detailed view Friday into the workings of an Obama administration program aimed at assessing the health of the nation's largest banks.
Sheila Bair, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, is one of the few women in the generals' tent of the nation's economic war.
updated: Wed Apr 08 2009 19:29:00
She's the second most powerful woman in the world, and also writes children's books. CNN's Jessica Yellin profiles Sheila Bair.
Sheila Bair's band of bank watchdogs is about to get even busier.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke responded to ongoing criticism of the government's efforts to keep alive institutions it has deemed "too big to fail," saying that this is an "enormous problem" that needs to be addressed.
The government's closely watched list of troubled banks grew during the fourth quarter to its highest level since 1994, regulators said Thursday.
There are many ways to spend $800 billion to revive the economy. In recent days, President-elect Barack Obama has ticked off many of them: invest in infrastructure projects, help states pay for Medicaid, cut taxes on the middle class, expand use of renewable energy.
A group of investors is on the verge of buying the one of the nation's largest failed banks.
Sheila Bair may now be a lightning rod, but at least she's finally getting some respect.
With the Bush administration refusing to enact FDIC Chairwoman Sheila Bair's controversial loan modification plan, lawmakers are taking matters into their own hands.
More than half of delinquent homeowners whose mortgages were modified earlier this year ended up redefaulting within six months, a top bank regulator said Monday.
Whether you love or hate the idea of Washington loaning the Big Three money, the government has learned its lessons from the mistakes of the bank rescue plan and has crafted a better bailout for the automakers.
Loan modifications for homeowners in trouble: there are a lot of proposals out there. But what's the best way to go about reworking your mortgage terms? Here's what you need to know.
When struggling homeowner Eddie Morrison heard about the government's $700 billion bailout plan for banks and Wall Street firms, he felt left out.
updated: Fri Dec 05 2008 09:11:00
With all the talk of bailouts, what about struggling homeowners? Deborah Feyerick reports.
The nation's top banking regulator warned Tuesday that help for troubled homeowners is failing to keep pace with the foreclosure crisis.
The government's watch list of problem banks grew staggeringly in the third quarter, according to a government report on the embattled financial sector released Tuesday.
FDIC chief Sheila Bair has already drawn attention for turning her agency from a regulatory backwater to a force in the reshaping of the financial industry. Now a little-noticed proposal that is close to passing would expand her influence further - and could spell trouble for the sprawling banks that Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke have said are too big, too connected, and too important to fail.
Several mortgage-rescue plans are making the rounds in Washington, but economists say the best approach may be to sit tight.
The Treasury Department said Monday that it has dispersed $33.56 billion to 21 banks in a second round of payments as part of the $700 billion bailout program designed to boost the nation's banking system.
In a surprise move, FDIC Chairwoman Sheila Bair Friday unveiled details of her plan to have the government help delinquent homeowners.
The federal government's plan to streamline modifications of troubled loans held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac won't help the majority of people threatened with foreclosure, experts said.
American voters have chosen the man who will choose the next Treasury Secretary.
The government is expected to announce soon that it will devote up to $50 billion to directly address the source of the financial crisis: bad mortgages and millions of homeowners at risk of foreclosure.
The Bush Administration is working to create a program that would cut down on foreclosures by helping creditworthy borrowers make their monthly mortgage payments
The battered economy is in desperate need of a housing fix, and one failed bank just may have the answer.
Calls for a sweeping federal response to the housing mess are getting louder. But finding a solution isn't getting any easier.
The federal government, which has been criticized for not doing enough for Main Street while coming to the immediate aid of banks, is working on a new plan to help troubled homeowners.
The Senate plans to vote on the $700 billion bank rescue plan Wednesday evening - two days after the House failed to pass it.
The federal agency that guarantees bank deposits is asking Congress for temporary authority to raise the limit on the amount of money it insures for individual bank accounts.
JPMorgan Chase acquired the banking assets of Washington Mutual late Thursday after the troubled thrift was seized by federal regulators, marking the biggest bank failure in the nation's history and the latest stunning twist in the ongoing credit crisis.
A day after the historic takeover of AIG and two days after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, investors seemed to be betting that commercial banks are the next shoe to drop in the financial crisis.
As part of the massive housing rescue bill passed by Congress in July, troubled borrowers will be able to refinance their home loans with the backing of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) starting on October 1.
The number of troubled banks on the government's watch list grew dramatically last quarter.
Federal regulators say U.S. banking industry profits plunged by 86 percent in the second quarter, as slumps in the housing and credit markets continued
The FDIC, six weeks after taking over mortgage lender IndyMac Bank, said Wednesday that it will start systematically modifying some of the bank's most troubled loans to keep borrowers in their homes.
When FDIC Chairwoman Sheila Bair swooped in on Friday and took over IndyMac Bank, she became steward to billions of dollars in customer savings deposits. She also inherited $200 billion worth of home mortgages - a sizable number of which are in trouble.
The nation's banking system is "absolutely safe" and Americans' insured deposits in banks protected, the head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said Tuesday
IndyMac's startling collapse last week sparked fears that other institutions could follow suit. Yet, several veteran banking analysts say that there won't be nearly as many bank collapses as there were in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
In what could turn out to be the most expensive bank failure ever, troubled mortgage lender IndyMac Bancorp Inc. was taken over by federal regulators on Friday.
The FDIC stressed Sunday that the takeover of failed bank IndyMac is largely a "non-event" for most customers.
In what could turn out to be the most expensive bank failure ever, troubled mortgage lender IndyMac Bank was taken over by federal regulators on Friday.
The mortgage meltdown and credit crunch continued to take their toll on the battered financial industry in the first quarter, according to a government report on the banking sector released Thursday.
Lenders have helped nearly 1.2 million troubled home owners as part of a Bush-administration led housing rescue effort, according to numbers released Thursday by the Hope Now coalition.
The Bush administration Wednesday outlined a plan to help homeowners at risk of foreclosure in an attempt to get out ahead of a more sweeping proposal by House Democrats.
Sheila Bair became Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in June 2006 - just in time for the end of a real estate and credit bubble that has made her job one of the toughest in the regulatory world. She was one of the first members of the Bush Administration to say that it was the job of lenders and big banks to help mortgage holders in distress; and she has fought to uphold strict banking standards and create more lending laws.
Lawmakers grilled bank regulators Tuesday about why they didn't intervene as lax lending standards led to a meltdown in the mortgage market and a credit crunch that threaten the economy.
If you've got a 7% adjustable mortgage that's about to skyrocket past 10%, getting a break may get a lot easier. One solution to the foreclosure problem gaining traction would freeze rates at lower levels.
The heat on U.S. mortgage lenders and servicers was turned up a few degrees this week when the country's chief bank regulator publicly proposed that they permanently freeze interest rates on subprime adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) for many homeowners.
The Federal Reserve and other banking regulators issued special guidance Tuesday urging loan service companies to work with borrowers in danger of defaulting on their home mortgages.
U.S. banks' troubled real-estate loans rose for the fifth consecutive quarter, to a total $66.9 billion at the end of the second quarter, the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said Wednesday.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is "closely monitoring" credit markets and the biggest U.S. banks' balance sheets, FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said Wednesday.
The overall U.S. banking system is in very good shape and well-capitalized, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chairman Sheila Bair said Thursday.
Swapping risky mortgages for those with steady payments sounds like a reasonable plan to keep millions out of foreclosure. But the way mortgage products have been packaged and sold into financial markets presents a big hurdle.
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