Posts Tagged ‘American Banker’
Posted by Larry Doyle on February 12th, 2012 5:34 PM |
In a nation now all too familiar with a “too big to fail” banking system, a heavily manipulated and high frequency dominated equity market, and an incestuous financial regulatory system, we should not be surprised with a mortgage settlement that does little more than ‘piss into the wind’.
Pardon my cynicism, but one does not need to look too deeply into the recently announced mortgage settlement to understand there is little in the way of meaningful justice embedded in this contrivance. (more…)
Tags: Ally Financial, American Banker, Bank of America, Citigroup, details of mortgage settlement, high frequency trading, JP Morgan Chase, justice within mortgage settlement, Missing Settlement Documents Raise Doubts About $25B Deal, mortgage abuse, Mortgage Crisis, mortgage fraud, mortgage servicers, mortgage settlement, Mortgages, piss into the wind, pissing into the wind, regulatory capture, RICO Act, robo-signing, the regulators work for us, too big to fail banking system, Wall Street conspiracy, Wall Street-Washington incest, Wells Fargo
Posted in General, Mortgage Cram-Down, Mortgage Crisis, Mortgages | 3 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on April 11th, 2011 8:20 AM |
While Uncle Sam in the persons of Ben Bernanke, Tim Geithner et al may promote the fact that our capital markets currently are a reflection of a rebound in capitalism, they would be wrong.
Our markets and the Wall Street banks that dominate them no more embody the true tenets of capitalism than the incestuous nature of the Wall Street-Washington relationship truly represents the best interests of the American public. As The New York Times highlighted this weekend, Banks Are Off the Hook Again,
Americans know that banks have mistreated borrowers in many ways in foreclosure cases. Among other things, they habitually filed false court documents. There were investigations. We’ve been waiting for federal and state regulators to crack down. (more…)
Tags: agreement to settle mortgage foreclosure investigation, American Banker, Banks Are Off the Hook Again, Ben Bernanke, capital markets, consumer banking fees, consumer banking services and fees, Fat Fees Few Banks, financial supermarket model, foreclosure crisis and mistreatment, foundation of capitalism, gigantic banks, how does an oligopoly work, investment banking fees, investment banking services and fees, is capitalism dead, mistreatment of borrowers age, mortgage foreclosure crisis, pillars of capitalism, principles of capitalism, take it or leave it, The New York Times April 9 2011, Tim Geithner, true tenets of capitalism, underwriting fees on Wall Street, Wall Street Banks, Wall Street has America by the Balls, Wall Street regulation, Wall street regulators, Wall Street-Washington incest, what is an oligopoly, what is capitalism
Posted in General, Wall Street | 2 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on April 7th, 2011 5:57 AM |
Call me old fashioned but the idea that those engaged in abusive, and very likely fraudulent, business practices are allowed to negotiate a settlement strikes me as un-American.
That said, the world of unintended consequences in our Uncle Sam and Wall Street dominated economic system brings us just such an un-American approach in terms of addressing our current mortgage mess.
Negotiate? Settlement? Growing up in Boston in a family full of lawyers, I was under the impression that fraud and abuse likely got you 5 to 7 years in a medium security facility and maybe you got out in 3 to 4 with good behavior. Perhaps that form of justice still applies to you and me but for the large monied interests who run this country, we’re talking negotiations and settlement. Wow!! Little wonder why the rage in our nation directed at the Wall Street-Washington incest continues to burn so strongly. Let’s navigate. (more…)
Tags: American Banker, Bank of America Brian Moynihan, banks told people not to pay mortgage, homeowner abuse, JP Morgan Jamie Dimon, mortgage foreclosure crisis, mortgage foreclosure settlements, mortgage mess, mortgage negotiations, mortgage settlement talks, racketeering act, Seize the Moment: Use Settlement Talks to Halt Homeowner Abuse, short sales, unintended consequences, Wall Street and racketeering, Wall Street and RICO Act, Wall Street mortgage abuse, Wall Street-Washington incest, Wells Fargo John Stumpf
Posted in General | 14 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on October 26th, 2010 5:46 AM |
All financial accounting charades to the contrary, the reality of a decaying asset quality and insufficient capital position will cause any institution to quiver. With more banking institutions declaring bankruptcy each and every week, the clock has yet to strike twelve on any of our larger banking institutions. That said, the pressure is certainly mounting on a large west coast institution, that being the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle.
I first addressed issues within this specific institution 18 months ago when writing, Putting Perfume on a Pig. I highlighted at that time:
Who gets this? Charles Bowsher, who resigned just last week as chairman of the Federal Home Loan Banks Office of Finance. Bloomberg’s Jonathan Weil does yeoman work in profiling Mr. Bowsher and the joke that is FHLB accounting: (more…)
Tags: accounting fraud, American Banker, banking losses, Charles Bowsher, federal home loan bank seattle, Federal Home Loan Bank system, Federal Housing Finance Agency, FHFA, FHLB, FHLB Seattle, Jonathan Weil of Bloomberg, office of finance, riccobono, Richard M. Riccobono, Seattle FHLB Enters Into Consent Agreement with FHFA CEO Riccobono Resigns, Steven R. Horton, William V. Humphreys
Posted in Federal Home Loan Banks, General | 1 Comment »
Posted by Larry Doyle on September 21st, 2010 12:02 PM |
What is holding back our economy? Why isn’t there more credit available in our banking system?

I have answered these questions numerous times over the last two years BUT many in Washington pretend not to know the answer and pander to their constituencies in the process. Regular readers of Sense on Cents are well aware that the books of our banks–especially our largest money center banks–remain chock-filled with loans that are being valued far in excess of what they are truly worth. Let’s navigate.
I first addressed issues within the second mortgage and HELOC (home equity line of credit) space in Fall of 2008 (Sense on Cents/Second Mortgages). Here we are a full two years later and America still has not received a straight answer and a full accounting by the banks or their regulators as to this “sinkhole” on their books and in our economy.
Let’s dive into this hole, get a little dirty, and again expose the issues within this sector. (more…)
Tags: 12th Street Capital, American Banker, Anthony Sanders, Anthony Sanders of George Mason University, bank regulators, Bryan Hubbard, Catch-22, cooking the books, CoreLogic, ginat elephant in the room, helocs, home prices, housing, Housing Crisis, Jerry Dubrowski, Kevin Doyle of 12th Street Capital, Larry Doyle, Michael Cavanagh of JP Morgan, Mortgage Crisis, mortgage delinquencies, mortgage foreclosures, OCC, Rebel Cole of Depaul University, second liens, second mortgages, Sense on Cents, strategic defaults, underwater mortgages, Why Writedowns on Second Mortgages Are So Scarce
Posted in General | 10 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on June 24th, 2010 9:31 AM |
How secure do you feel about your bank deposits? They are insured, right? Well, how secure would you feel about your health insurance if your provider was not collecting badly needed premiums?
I am not pulling any fire alarms, but a recent announcement from the FDIC in regard to its insurance premiums collected from depository institutions speaks volumes about the current state of our banking system and our overall economy.
Recall that the FDIC’s insurance fund was exhausted late last year (Sense on Cents commentary: FHA and FDIC Getting Ready to Ask Uncle Sam for a Bigger Allowance). To replenish its fund, the FDIC had banks prepay estimated assessments of $45 billion, and also imposed higher premiums to rebuild the fund.
While Wall Street banks were in a position to pay out approximately $140 billion in 2009 bonuses, we now learn that the banking system is not in a position to begin paying the higher premiums to the FDIC. (more…)
Tags: American Banker, banks, deposit insurance, Deposit Insurance Fund, FDIC, FDIC board, FDIC insurance fund, FDIC press release June 22 2010, FDIC to Postpone Boosting Premiums Until Economic Picture Clears, Federal Deposit Insurance Commission, health of banks, health of economy, Sheila Bair, Wall Street bonuses
Posted in FDIC, General | 1 Comment »
Posted by Larry Doyle on June 16th, 2010 1:30 PM |
In the midst of challenging twists and turns along our economic landscape, I find it heartening to come across a bit of positive news.
Declining credit card delinquencies should be juxtaposed to the fact that mortgage delinquencies continue to increase. That divergence indicates to me that American homeowners are making their card payments prior to their mortgage payments. Why? Banks will quickly pull their cards while working with homeowners to modify their mortgages and allowing them to remain in their homes for an extended period. (more…)
Tags: American Banker, American Express credit card delinquencies and chargeoffs, Bank of America credit card delinquencies and losses, Capital One Financial credit card delinquency rate, Card Delinquency Drops Beat Expectations, Citigroup credit card delinquencies, credit card chargeoffs, credit card debt vs mortgage debt, credit card delinquencies, credit cards and mortgage modifications, Discover financial Services credit card delinquencies and chargeoffs, JP Morgan Chase credit card losses and delinquencies, Sanjay Sakhrani analyst at KBW
Posted in Credit Card companies, General | 3 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 5th, 2010 12:38 PM |
“Let’s see, do you want to go for the prize behind Door #1 or take a chance on what’s in the big box?”
“Well Monty, I’m playing with your money so it doesn’t really matter now, does it?”
1970’s vintage TV may have been entertaining, but is the current deal-making used by Fannie Mae to liquidate housing inventory truly the way to develop a healthy and robust housing market?
Just what is Fannie Mae doing? (more…)
Tags: American Banker, Fannie Cuts FHA-Like Deals to Sell Homes, Fannie Mae, Fannie Mae Homepath, FICO scores, home appraisals, housing, Housing Crisis, housing finance, John Dutra, low down payments, mortgage finance, mortgage insurance
Posted in Fannie Mae, General | 2 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on December 18th, 2009 11:18 AM |
Might we turn the clock back in an attempt to make our way forward? How so?
Pressure is certainly building in America to curtail, if not derail, the excessive risks embedded in our largest banks. How may these risks be unwound? Reinstating the Glass-Steagall Act, which separated commercial and investment banking activities. If this Act were to be reinstated, that would be the end of the mega-banks (Citi, JP Morgan, Bank of America, Wells Fargo) as we know them.
Who has been harping on this? Former Fed Chair Paul Volcker. Although Wall Street and Washington turn a deaf ear to Volcker, America listens to him intently.
In September, I wrote “Volcker Launches Bombshell on Wall Street and Washington” which highlighted Volcker’s call to reinstate Glass-Steagall. That story resonated far and wide. Now we learn from the American Banker that Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and John McCain (R-AZ) have introduced legislation which would once again separate commercial and investment banking activities. (more…)
Tags: American Banker, Bank of America, banking crisis, Banking Integrity Act of 2009, Bill Offered to Reinstate Glass-Steagall, Citigroup, failure of Bear Stearns and Lehman, Gramm-Leach-Bliley, JP Morgan, Maria Cantwell John McCain, Paul Volcker, Risk, risks on Wall Street, Wells Fargo
Posted in General, Glass-Steagall | No Comments »