News on Sheila Bair

Bair says Senate bill must be tweaked

2010-03-19T18:00:35Z

<div id="subtitle">FDIC chairman says loopholes must be filled in Senate overhaul bill to end 'too-big-to-fail'</div><div><p>A key senator has agreed with the head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to change new Senate legislation to ensure an end to the "too-big-to-fail" approach that brought the government rushing in to bail out big banks in the financial crisi...

Senate to remove "backdoor bailouts" from bill

2010-03-19T09:30:18Z

<div><p>ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Banking Committee will remove a provision from the financial reform bill that bank regulator Sheila Bair said cou...

Time to end gouging

2010-03-19T02:17:38Z

<div id="subtitle">Federal Reserve Board should give consumers option to avoid costly overdraft fees</div><div><p> One of the banking industryÕs dirty little secrets is the massive amount of money it makes each year in fees from customers who have overdrawn their accounts. The Center for Responsible Lending, a ...

Bank regulators may extend crisis-era guarantee

2010-03-18T08:00:49Z

<div><p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. bank regulators may extend a guarantee program set up at the peak of the financial crisis, fearing that ending the program could spark liquidity failures at small banks.</p><p>Sheila Bair, chairman of the Virginia (Reuters) - U.S. banking regulator Sheila Bair said on Monday that a low interest rate policy is "clearly appropriate" to get credit flowing, while also saying regulators should stop short of ordering banks to lend.</p><p>Bair, chairman of the FDIC head makes pitch again for new consumer protection agency</div><div><p>The head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. pitched again Monday for a new agency for consumer financial protection, now a key sticking point in Senate talks in legislation to overhaul the finance system.</p><p>FDIC U.S. banks considered troubled jumped to more than 700 last quarter even as the industry squeezed out a small profit in a recovering economy.</p><p>And bank lending last year posted the steepest drop since World War II.</p><p>The snapshot for October-December 2...

Regulators report 27 percent jump in problem banks

2010-02-23T07:15:37Z

<div><p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of "problem" U.S. banks jumped 27 percent during the fourth quarter of 2009 to 702, the highest level since 1993 and a sign the industry's recovery is still shaky, regulators reported on Tuesday.</p><p>The Fe...

Gov't mortgage plan aids 12 percent of borrowers

2010-02-22T09:01:33Z

<div id="subtitle">Obama mortgage plan provides assistance to just 12 percent of borrowers who signed up</div><div><p>The government's mortgage relief plan has helped only about 12 percent of borrowers who signed up since President Barack Obama announced the program a year ago.</p><p>The Virginia (Reuters) - Top bank regulator Sheila Bair said on Friday that proposed proprietary trading limits are "very positive," but said they would not have necessarily reined in risk-taking at the institutions that required massive bailouts.</p><p>

Financial crisis panel to call Greenspan, Cox

2010-02-22T21:11:00Z

<div><p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. regulators admitted to failing to head off the 2008 financial crisis as they appeared before a panel whose chairman said he plans to seek testimony from former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.</p><p>As Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday told a panel studying the financial crisis that combating white-collar crimes is "a real priority" for the government, even if it bumps up against another urgent mission, combatting terrorism.</p><p&am...

U.S. financial crisis panel to call Greenspan, Cox

2010-02-22T21:11:01Z

<div><p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. regulators admitted to failing to head off the 2008 financial crisis as they appeared before a panel whose chairman said he plans to seek testimony from former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.</p><p>As Chairman Bill Thomas (L) talks to Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission Mary Schapiro (C) and Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Sheila Bair (R) after a hearing before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission January 14, 2010 on

Meltdown Investigation

2010-01-14T07:18:13Z

From right to left, Attorney General Eric Holder, Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, FDIC Chair Sheila Bair, and SEC Chair Mary Schapiro, are sworn in on Capitol Hill in Reuters) - The board of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp will meet on January 12 to consider proposing rules on compensation for bank employees, the agency said on Wednesday.</p><p>The FDIC did not provide details on what it will propose, but it has ...

Banks getting bum rap on not lending enough?

2010-02-23T12:54:22Z

<div id="subtitle">Banks getting bum rap on not lending enough? Trading, not lending, is the right fix for now</div><div><p>Unlike big-city bankers, Stan Wilmoth didn't make lots of dumb loans during the boom. After the crash, he accepted not a dime of taxpayer money for his bank. His salary? "Substantially less" than the $1 million the former head of Reuters) - U.S. bank regulators on Tuesday approved an initial proposal to jump-start the securitization market and strengthen standards to avoid abuses that helped lead to the economic crisis, but the board remained divided on what limits to impose on banks.</p><p>The board of the WASHINGTON - DECEMBER 11: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporatin Chair Sheila Bair prepares to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee about the purchase of Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) reported that its insurance fund that protects depositors fell $8.2 into the red. It's the first time that has happened since the savings-and-loan crisis of...