Federal Reserve – News Stories About Federal Reserve - Page 19

Nov 12, 2009 1:06 PM CST

Fed Restricts Overdraft Fees

Customers must opt in for coverage of ATM, debit transactions

(Newser) - Starting in July, banks will have to get consumers' explicit consent before authorizing an overdraft—and the accompanying fee—on debit and ATM card transactions. Since the advent of the financial crisis, overdraft fees have become the biggest source of consumer fee income for banks. Congress is also considering making...

Financial Reform: How to Prevent Another Greenspan

Thomas Frank

Nov 11, 2009 9:44 AM CST

Financial Reform: How to Prevent Another Greenspan

Reform plans may hand regulation over to fervent deregulators

(Newser) - There's a lot riding on reform of the financial industry, but the administration's plans to overhaul financial regulation carries the seeds of its own destruction, writes Thomas Frank. Taking oversight away from the present confusing array of agencies and making the Federal Reserve One Big Regulator means that when the...

Dodd Unveils Sweeping Financial Overhaul Bill

Nov 10, 2009 2:41 PM CST

Dodd Unveils Sweeping Financial Overhaul Bill

It would create new oversight agencies

(Newser) - Chris Dodd introduced a sweeping financial regulation bill that creates no fewer than three new agencies to oversee the banking industry. Dodd’s bill creates an Agency for Financial Stability to identify systemic risks to the economy as a whole. It entrusts all bank supervision to the Financial Institutions Regulatory...

Dodd Declares War With
Senate Bank Bill

Nov 5, 2009 7:34 AM CST

Dodd Declares War With Senate Bank Bill

Senator readies radical overhaul of finance regulation

(Newser) - A Senate bill that would fundamentally change the structure of banking regulation is headed for a clash with both the House and the White House. Christopher Dodd is readying a proposal to strip the Fed and FDIC of almost all bank-supervision powers, creating in their place a new agency that...

Fed Leaves Rate
at Record Low

Nov 4, 2009 1:43 PM CST

Fed Leaves Rate at Record Low

Says it wants to foster recovery

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve today held a key interest rate at a record low and again pledged to keep it there for an "extended period" to foster the fragile economic recovery. The Fed says economic activity has "continued to pick up" and that the housing market also has grown...

Even Dems Say Grayson's Nuts

Oct 26, 2009 9:10 PM CDT

Even Dems Say Grayson's Nuts

'One fry short of a Happy Meal' after he calls Fed adviser 'a K Street whore'

(Newser) - Rep. Alan Grayson has irked Republicans over the past month or so with his sharp tongue—saying the GOP health plan was for Americans to “die quickly,” then, last week, comparing Dick Cheney to a vampire—but even fellow Dems are up in arms after an interview surfaced...

New Pay Rules May Hurt Banks, but Protect Public

Steven Pearlstein

Oct 23, 2009 8:33 AM CDT

New Pay Rules May Hurt Banks, but Protect Public

They'll discourage commercial banks from being investment banks

(Newser) - Steven Pearlstein isn't exactly wowed by the new salary rules being proposed for Wall Street. "Don't get carried away. By themselves, these measures won't prevent future crises, nor will they likely do much to lower the prevailing pay levels on Wall Street or in corporate America." But, he...

Fed Rolls Out Plan to Limit Bank Pay

Oct 22, 2009 3:15 PM CDT

Fed Rolls Out Plan to Limit Bank Pay

It works in tandem with pay czar's new compensation rules

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve today officially announced a plan to regulate pay structures at banks, the same day the pay czar rolled out his plan to cap salaries at bailed-out firms. The administration’s double-whammy on compensation marks an unprecedented level of government involvement in the private sector, and the policies...

Bailout
Is Bad News
for Savers

OPINION

Oct 20, 2009 12:17 PM CDT

Bailout Is Bad News for Savers

Banks get trillions, fixed-income investors get screwed: Sloan

(Newser) - Not fed up enough with just putting your taxpayer dollars directly on the line to bail out the nation’s banks? Allan Sloan has latched on to some insidious “collateral damage” from the government’s rescue plan, those trillions spent “to keep interest rates down to support the...

Bernanke: US Must Save More, Asia Spend More

Oct 20, 2009 8:46 AM CDT

Bernanke: US Must Save More, Asia Spend More

Fed chief warns global imbalances could trigger new meltdown

(Newser) - The world economy is headed back down the drain if Asians don't start spending more and Americans don't start saving more, Ben Bernanke said at a conference yesterday. The Fed chief warned that unequal trade patterns were partly to blame for the financial crisis and that they are re-emerging as...

Fed May Have Outmuscled Other Lehman Creditors

Oct 2, 2009 8:05 AM CDT

Fed May Have Outmuscled Other Lehman Creditors

Government creditors got their cash back; private investors still struggling

(Newser) - A special court examiner investigating the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy is trying to determine whether the Fed used its clout to get its money back from the collapsed bank ahead of other creditors. The central bank and its New York branch lent Lehman $46 billion before the bankruptcy but was promptly...

Dow Drops 81
Despite Fed News

MARKETS

Sep 23, 2009 3:21 PM CDT

Dow Drops 81 Despite Fed News

Oil prices tumble $2.79

(Newser) - After an initial boost off the Fed's cautiously optimistic announcement and decision to leave interest rates unchanged, stocks fell late in the session, the Wall Street Journal reports. Crude oil tumbled $2.79 to $68.53 a barrel, driving sell-offs in energy stocks that in turn depressed the major indices....

Fed Holds Rates Steady,
Says Economy 'Picked Up'

Sep 23, 2009 1:41 PM CDT

Fed Holds Rates Steady, Says Economy 'Picked Up'

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve today decided as expected to hold a key bank lending rate at a record low near zero and pledged to keep rates there "for an extended period." The Fed also declared that "economic activity has picked up following its severe downturn" and said it...

Goldman May Break Charter to Duck Pay Rules

Sep 23, 2009 8:15 AM CDT

Goldman May Break Charter to Duck Pay Rules

Investors see financial giant shedding year-old bank status

(Newser) - With the Federal Reserve busily drafting rules to limit pay for bank executives, some investors believe Goldman Sachs will simply stop being a bank, Reuters reports. By shedding its year-old commercial banking charter, acquired in the heat of the financial meltdown to ensure access to credit, Goldman could elude restrictions...

Fed Shows Backbone, but
Obama Cowers Before Banks

OPINION

Sep 21, 2009 8:48 AM CDT

Fed Shows Backbone, but Obama Cowers Before Banks

Reining in pay is good politics, good economics: Krugman

(Newser) - Just as the recession wanes and the financial system shows signs of the health, banks are returning to their worst habits, says Paul Krugman. Not only are paychecks soaring to pre-Lehman levels, but the financial sector is using its muscle to block "even the most minimal reforms." While...

Fed Plans
to Oversee
Bankers' Pay

Sep 18, 2009 5:48 AM CDT

Fed Plans to Oversee Bankers' Pay

Sweeping new rules will let central bank reject risky compensation plans

(Newser) - A wide-ranging plan by the Federal Reserve to limit executive pay would allow government regulators to probe private financial institution's pay practices—and let the Fed block any policy it thinks may encourage undue risk. The plan is still being formulated and won't be finished for weeks, but it requires...

Bernanke: Recession
'Very Likely Over'

Sep 15, 2009 10:54 AM CDT

Bernanke: Recession 'Very Likely Over'

(Newser) - Fed chief Ben Bernanke said today that the worst recession since the 1930s is "very likely over at this point." However, "it's still going to feel like a weak economy for some time," he warned, and unemployment will almost certainly rise. He spoke today to the...

Fed Has Field of Economics in Its Pocket

OPINION

Sep 9, 2009 3:09 PM CDT

Fed Has Field of Economics in Its Pocket

Central bank keeps vast number of thinkers on the payroll

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve has essentially bought out the economics profession, writes Ryan Grim in a Huffington Post investigation. The Fed employs or contracts with so many economists that it's a "career liability" for any independent-minded one to criticize policy, writes Grim. This might explain why the Fed has largely...

Greenspan: 'Crisis Will Happen Again'

INTERVIEW

Sep 9, 2009 5:26 AM CDT

Greenspan: 'Crisis Will Happen Again'

Former Fed chairman denies responsibility, blames human nature

(Newser) - Another financial crisis is inevitable "unless somebody can find a way to change human nature," says Alan Greenspan in an interview with the BBC. The former Fed chairman—who has faced stinging criticism for his own role in precipitating the 2008-09 global recession—denied any responsibility for the...

Bank of America Ready to Repay $20B in Bailout Cash

Sep 1, 2009 7:59 AM CDT

Bank of America Ready to Repay $20B in Bailout Cash

But bank haggles with Treasury, Fed over fee for loss-sharing deal

(Newser) - Bank of America may become the latest institution to pay back a portion of its bailout money, with an eye toward escaping Washington's scrutiny of its pay packages. BofA isn't ready to pay back $45 billion in first-round TARP funds, the Wall Street Journal reports, but wants to start with...