- Geithner to Testify Jan. 27 About AIG E-Mail Exchange
- U.S. financial crisis panel to call Greenspan, Cox
- Citigroup plans to cap cash bonuses
- JPMorgan fourth-quarter profits soar
- FDIC blames Federal Reserve for severity of financial crisis
- Bankers’ fury at levy on US subsidiaries
- Dodd Said to Weigh Dropping Consumer Agency From Overhaul Plan
- U.S. Retail Sales Unexpectedly Fall After Bigger Gain
- Intel Forecast Tops Estimates, Spurs Earnings-Season Optimism
Geithner to Testify Jan. 27 About AIG E-Mail Exchange – Bloomberg
reasury Secretary Timothy Geithner agreed to testify Jan. 27 before a House panel investigating why the Federal Reserve Bank of New York asked insurer American International Group Inc. to limit disclosures of the government’s financial rescue to investors.
Geithner said on CNBC today he wasn’t involved in the exchange of e-mails between the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which he headed at the time, and AIG on the matter in late 2008.
“You know I haven’t looked at those memos actually. I wasn’t involved in that decision,” Geithner said on CNBC. “I do think the Fed did disclose all of that information subsequently. It’s important that the American people see all of this information.”….
Citigroup plans to cap cash bonuses – Financial Times
Citigroup is to cap cash bonuses for bankers at below $100,000, according to people close to the situation. The move is aimed at defusing the public ire at Wall Street pay but could make it difficult for the US bank to retain its top talent.
Citi declined to comment but people close to the situation said the 2009 bonus pool at the bank, in which the US government has a 27 per cent stake, would be in line with the one in 2008 – a relatively low level compared with other years…..
JPMorgan fourth-quarter profits soar – Financial Times
JPMorgan said on Friday that its fourth-quarter profits soared, fuelled by continued strength in its investment banking business.
Net income at the bank more than quadrupled, rising to $3.3bn, or 74 cents a share, up from $702m, or 6 cents, in the same period a year ago. Wall Street analysts projected that JPMorgan would earn about $2.5bn, or 63 cents.
“Though these results showed improvement, we acknowledge that they fell short of both an adequate return on capital and the firm’s earnings potential,” Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan’s chief executive, said in a statement…..
FDIC blames Federal Reserve for severity of financial crisis – Financial Times
The Federal Reserve was blamed by a fellow regulator for contributing to the financial crisis yesterday as the central bank and one of its former chairmen fought back against congressional moves to curb its powers.
In unusually pointed criticism, Sheila Bair, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, told the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission that “much of the crisis may have been prevented” had the Fed dealt with subprime mortgages seven years before it did…….
Bankers’ fury at levy on US subsidiaries – Financial Times
“Taxation without representation.” A senior banker invoked the rallying cry of the American revolution to condemn the Obama administration’s decision to charge a proposed new bank levy on the US subsidiaries of foreign financial groups.
None of the many overseas banks with offices in New York, which include big names in global finance such as Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, UBS and BNP Paribas, wanted to publicly criticise the move. But in private many executives were seething…..
U.S. financial crisis panel to call Greenspan, Cox – Reuters
….To learn more, commission chairman Phil Angelides said on Thursday he will seek testimony from Greenspan, current Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and former chairmen of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including Christopher Cox.
“We’ll be asking them to come before us because they were the watchers, and I will assure you, we will be as probing of the regulators who were on the scene at the time as we will be of people in the private sector,” said Angelides, a former state treasurer of California….
Dodd Said to Weigh Dropping Consumer Agency From Overhaul Plan – Bloomberg
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd has indicated he may consider dropping the Consumer Financial Protection Agency from the financial regulatory overhaul bill he is drafting with members of his panel, according to people familiar with negotiations.
Dodd, 65, may agree to shelve the proposed agency, a priority for the Obama administration, and replace it with a division within another federal agency to help advance the broader bill, said the people, who declined to be identified because negotiations are ongoing. The Wall Street Journal reported the matter earlier, citing people it didn’t identify…..
U.S. Retail Sales Unexpectedly Fall After Bigger Gain – Bloomberg
Sales at U.S. retailers unexpectedly fell in December following a gain the prior month that was larger than previously estimated, signaling a consumer recovery will be uneven.
The 0.3 percent decrease came after a 1.8 percent jump the prior month, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The government last month calculated the November gain at 1.3 percent…
Intel Forecast Tops Estimates, Spurs Earnings-Season Optimism – Bloomberg
Intel Corp., the world’s largest chipmaker, projected bigger first-quarter sales than analysts had estimated, a sign the computer industry has shaken off the effects of the recession.
The company forecast first-quarter revenue of about $9.7 billion yesterday, compared with the $9.34 billion average estimate in a Bloomberg survey. Santa Clara, California-based Intel also reported a surge in fourth-quarter sales and profit…..
Tags: AIG, Alan Greenspan, Barack Obama, Bonuses, Chris Cox, Compensation, FDIC, Intel, JP Morgan, Politics, retailers, SEC, Sheila Bair, Taxes, Tim Geithner, U.S.. Treasury
