Author: Daniel Wagner
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Google tests cars that can steer without drivers
WASHINGTON (AP) – Google Inc. is road-testing cars that steer, stop and start without a human driver, the company says. The goal is to “help prevent traffic accidents, free up people’s time and reduce carbon emissions” through ride sharing and “the new ‘highway trains of tomorrow,’” project leader Sebastian Thrun wrote Saturday on Google’s corporate…
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Government watchdogs: Mortgage program is not working
WASHINGTON — Government watchdogs are telling a Senate panel that the Obama administration’s multibillion effort to help at-risk homeowners avoid foreclosure is not working and could put the economic recovery at risk. Special inspector general for the financial bailouts Neil Barofsky said Wednesday that the program has not “put an appreciable dent in foreclosure filings,”…
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FDIC chief says parts of proposed regulatory plan won’t fly
WASHINGTON • The head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is arguing against key pillars of the Obama administration’s plan to overhaul the financial system, saying they would not survive in Congress and that she has better ideas. In an interview with The Associated Press, FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said Congress would not go along…
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Many of government’s mortgage partners have checkered history
WASHINGTON — Billions of dollars the government is spending to help financially pressed homeowners avert foreclosure are passing through — and enriching — companies accused of preying on the people they’re supposed to help, an Associated Press investigation has found. The companies, known as mortgage servicers, are middlemen who collect monthly payments from homeowners and…
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Bank industry girds for fight over consumer agency
NEW YORK – Of all the financial regulatory changes the Obama administration has proposed, one stands tallest as a threat to bank industry profits: the creation of an agency to protect consumers from risky products. Banking lobbyists are already trying to curb the agency, which is fast becoming the first big battleground over the financial…
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Banks mark new phase in U.S. credit recovery
WASHINGTON • Ten large U.S. banks finished repaying about $68 billion in bailout money Wednesday, marking a new phase for the most visible government effort to relieve the credit crisis, the Treasury Department said. Treasury said last week the banks could begin repaying money they received last fall under the $700 billion financial system bailout…
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10 big banks get OK to repay $68B in bailout money
WASHINGTON – The Treasury Department has approved 10 of the nation’s largest banks to repay $68 billion in government bailout money. The department on Tuesday said the banks, which were not named, will be allowed to repay the money they received from the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program created by Congress last October at…
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Fed gives big banks rules on repaying bailout funds
WASHINGTON • The Federal Reserve on Monday laid out rules for banks seeking to repay taxpayer bailout funds, clearing the way for the 19 largest financial institutions to wind down their reliance on government support. The rules apply to the nation’s 19 largest banks, which have assets of more than $100 billion and were subjected…
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Banks may need to raise more capital
WASHINGTON • Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. will need to raise more capital based on preliminary results of their government-run “stress tests” – unless they succeed in appealing the findings, according to two people familiar with the matter. The banks are making their arguments to regulators, said these people, who spoke on condition…
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Wells Fargo defends, then cancels Vegas junket
WASHINGTON – Wells Fargo & Co. abruptly canceled Tuesday a pricey Las Vegas casino junket for employees after a torrent of criticism that it was misusing $25 billion in taxpayer bailout money.The company initially defended the trip after The Associated Press reported it had booked 12 nights beginning Friday at the Wynn Las Vegas and…