Firms that fed off the subprime lending frenzy that devastated the banking system are lining up to collect more than $21 billion in taxpayer funds meant to help bail out borrowers now in trouble on their loans.
The worst actors of the financial crisis, those who should have gone down in the flames they set themselves, who were rescued by our government, are now beyond belief mega financial oligarchs, limiting consumer choice and making a mockery of the phrase moral hazard:
Ever wonder when one sees pretty much the same headline on every single news site, blog and aggregator without much detail, how that happens?
(me too).
So what's behind this latest headline buzz of 10 banks paying back $68.3 Billion in TARP funds?
JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley were among 10 lenders that won U.S. Treasury approval to buy back $68 billion of government shares, freeing them from added oversight that curbed lending practices, hiring and pay.
Now wait a minute. That is buying back shares, not necessarily repaying the real amount. Is that market value for these shares? Is that the price which the Government paid for them?
Well, well. All of you folks screaming your heads off about offshore outsourcing of Federal, State and customer service jobs are having an impact. Keep it up!
Department of Children and Families Secretary George Sheldon told reporters on Friday that JPMorgan Chase, which contracts a debit-like card for food stamp users in Florida, will stop routing the calls to India.
"I gather that technologically this is a bigger deal than just flipping a switch. I don't know how long this will take, but the process has begun," Sheldon told the US media.
"It's a very bad message, particularly in this economy but also across the board, to have call centers operating out of India," Sheldon said. "They have agreed that they will immediately begin the process of rerouting the calls so that no Florida calls will be going to India."
For hundreds of thousands of workers losing their jobs during the recession, there's a new twist to their financial pain: Even as they're collecting unemployment benefits, they're paying bank fees just to get access to their money.
Thirty states have struck such deals with banks that include Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase and US Bancorp, an Associated Press review of the agreements found. All the programs carry fees, and in several states the unemployed have no choice but to use the debit cards. Some banks even charge overdraft fees of up to $20 — even though they could decline charges for more than what's on the card.
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