Mainstream News

Fed Prepares to Maintain Record Balance Sheet for Years

"Federal Reserve officials, concerned that selling bonds from their $4.3 trillion portfolio could crush the U.S. recovery, are preparing to keep their balance sheet close to record levels for years. Central bankers are stepping back from a three-year-old strategy for an exit from the unprecedented easing they deployed to battle the worst recession since the Great Depression. The Fed is testing new tools that would allow it to keep a large balance sheet even after it raises short-term interest rates, a step policy makers anticipate taking next year. They would use these tools to drain excess reserves temporarily from the banking system." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFed Prepares to Maintain Record Balance Sheet for Years

U.S. Regulators Mull Yanking Access To USD As Punishment For Banks

"BNP Paribas is expected to plead guilty in the coming weeks to charges that it processed payments for companies and countries that were subject to United States sanctions. BNP Paribas is also expected to pay financial penalties of about $8 billion, which would leave a sizable, though manageable, dent on its balance sheet. Despite those potential punishments, some regulators want to do more. Specifically, Benjamin M. Lawsky, New York State’s top financial regulator, is considering whether to temporarily suspend BNP Paribas’s ability to process dollar payments, according to people briefed on the settlement talks." Continue reading →

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Lebanon’s financial sector prepares to open books to Uncle Sam

"The Lebanese banking sector has been preparing for FATCA like the teacher’s pet not because it is a major advocate of reining in tax havens — Lebanese law explicitly allows companies set up with offshore tax status — or greater taxation transparency and new tax laws in the country. Rather, the sector is exceedingly wary of international regulators, specifically of falling foul of the US Treasury. This is due to Lebanon’s immense exposure to American leverage: some 70 percent of local deposits are held in US dollars; [..] no one wants a repeat of the 2011 Lebanese Canadian Bank fiasco, when the bank was accused by the US of money laundering and subsequently closed its doors." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLebanon’s financial sector prepares to open books to Uncle Sam

77,000 Foreign Banks To Share Account Info With IRS

"Nearly 70 countries have agreed to share information from their banks as part of a U.S. law that targets Americans' assets overseas. Starting in March 2015, these financial institutions have agreed to supply the IRS with names, account numbers and balances for accounts controlled by U.S. taxpayers. The law requires American banks to withhold 30 percent of certain payments to foreign banks that don't participate in the program — a significant price for access to the world's largest economy. The withholding applies to stocks and bonds, including U.S. Treasurys. Some previously owned securities would be exempt from the withholding, but in general, previously owned stocks would not." Continue reading →

Continue Reading77,000 Foreign Banks To Share Account Info With IRS

New York Fed Massively Disagrees With DOE’s Student Loan Default Data

"How high those delinquencies rates actually are, though, is an open question, which is turning into confusion on how to fix the problem. The most dire assessment is that one in three borrowers trying to repay student loans was late by 90 days or more at the end of 2012, according to The Federal Reserve Bank of New York in April. The U.S. Department of Education only publishes default statistics, and the official number of borrowers who default within two years of entering repayment is currently 10 percent. The default rate after three years is 14.7 percent. The default rates have been widely criticized for not giving an accurate picture of the number of student loan borrowers in distress." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew York Fed Massively Disagrees With DOE’s Student Loan Default Data

U.S. tax deal jeopardizes Canadians’ privacy

"Imperils the privacy of up to a million Canadians and creates a two-tier level of citizenship in this country, discriminating against citizens based on their ethnic origin. It could include so-called border babies, Canadians whose mothers gave birth across the border for medical reasons; Canadians who have returned after holding green cards for work in the U.S.; Canadian snowbirds who could be deemed 'U.S. persons' based on the length of their stay in the sun; and Canadians born to a U.S. parent who may have never set foot in the U.S. If you are a Canadian holding a joint account with a U.S.-born spouse, your financial information, too, could be headed to the files of the IRS — and perhaps beyond." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. tax deal jeopardizes Canadians’ privacy

Bailout Banks Made Riskier Loans: Study [2011]

"The government bailout made banks appear safer but actually caused them to take on more credit risk, according to a University of Michigan study released Wednesday. According to a working paper by finance professors Ran Duchin and Denis Sosyura of the university of Michigan's Ross School of Business entitled Safer Ratios, Riskier Portfolios: Banks' Response to Government Aid, banks participating in the government's Capital Purchase Program as part of the Troubled Assets Relief Program, or TARP, 'significantly increased their investments in risky securities,' by 10%, 'displacing safer assets, such as Treasury bonds, short-term paper, and cash equivalents.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBailout Banks Made Riskier Loans: Study [2011]

China reverts to credit as property slump threatens economy

"New housing starts fell by 15pc in April from a year earlier, with effects rippling through the steel and cement industries. Land sales fell by 20pc, eating into government income. The Chinese central bank has ordered 15 commercial banks to boost loans to first-time buyers and 'expedite the approval and disbursement of mortgage loans', the latest sign that it is backing away from monetary tightening. The authorities are now in an analogous position to Western central banks following years of stimulus: reliant on an asset boom to keep growth going. Each attempt to rein in China’s $25 trillion credit bubble seems to trigger wider tremors, and soon has to be reversed." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChina reverts to credit as property slump threatens economy

Barclays fined $44 million over gold price fixing

"A U.K. financial regulator has fined Barclays (BCS) $43.8 million after it accused a former trader at the bank of improperly influencing gold prices. The British bank will be fined £26 million ($43.8 million) for failures that allowed trader Daniel James Plunkett to exploit the weaknesses in Barclays' systems and controls to seek to influence the price of gold, which allowed the firm to 'profit at a customer's expense,' according to a news release. The fine was handed down by the Financial Conduct Authority. Separately, Plunkett was fined £95,600, or about $161,000." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBarclays fined $44 million over gold price fixing

Bank of Israel’s Fischer, Treasury’s Brainard to push for more activist Fed

"The arrival of former Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer and former U.S. Treasury official Lael Brainard will add two strong voices to back Chair Janet Yellen's view that loose monetary policy needs to be extended to turn around a slack labor market. Fischer intervened directly in Israel's mortgage market to tackle a real estate bubble, while Brainard pushed EU governments hard for more aggressive action from the European Central Bank during the euro zone crisis. Interviews with former colleagues and a review of their public statements also suggest both will want the Fed to remain in activist mode long after its current programs wind down and its bloated balance sheet shrinks." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBank of Israel’s Fischer, Treasury’s Brainard to push for more activist Fed