Bankers unhappy about bailout

America’s banking executives are having a tough time. First, they mess things up so badly that they require a humongous federal bailout.

No sooner do they get the federal funds than they start complaining about how difficult it is to manage a bank when taxpayers are looking over their shoulders. The logical thing for an executive in such a situation to do would be to make the most strenuous efforts possible to return the bailout funds.

Would it surprise you to learn that the bankers complaining most about the shackles that come along with bailout money don’t seem to have much of a sense of urgency about doing so?

In October, Northern Trust, the Chicago-based bank announced it would take $1.5 billion in TARP funds. But now it’s expressing annoyance that members of Congress are teed off about its sponsorship of a golf tournament. The bank, which is in good health, says it didn’t seek the funds but agreed to participate because the government wanted all the major banks to take part.        Breaking News

Senate panel questions swiss banking secrecy

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The sanctity of the secret Swiss bank account — an icon of global finance — is under growing pressure in a tax investigation due to come into public view on Wednesday at a U.S. congressional hearing.

Senator Carl Levin, a long-time foe of offshore tax havens estimated to deprive the U.S. government of $100 billion in annual revenues, will convene the hearing before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations that he chairs.

Levin will grill Mark Branson, a top officer at UBS AG, over a tax case in which the U.S. government wants the giant Swiss bank to disclose the names of thousands of rich U.S. clients suspected of dodging U.S. taxes.  The Michigan lawmaker told reporters in a briefing on Tuesday that the hearing will also focus on a U.S.-Swiss tax treaty he described as having “very, very limited value.” He said, “You can’t rely on the Swiss. That’s the bottom line.”        Breaking News

Caribbean regulators seize stanford bank in antigua

Caribbean regulators have taken over the Bank of Antigua, owned by the Stanford group, amid fraud accusations.

Fraud charges have been filed against the US businessman

The move comes after governments elsewhere, including in Peru, Venezuela, and Ecuador, suspended operations at banks owned by the group.

Sir Allen Stanford stands accused by US financial authorities of involvement in an $8bn (£5.6bn) investment fraud. He was served civil papers on Thursday.

The billionaire had been the single biggest private investor in Antigua.   The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accused Sir Allen of an alleged fraud “of shocking magnitude”.

However, he is not in custody and has not been charged with any criminal violations.  Authorities in the US claim that Sir Allen attracted clients by promising unrealistic returns on investments.        Breaking News

Grab your money, more bank failures around the corner

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — If it’s Friday, there must be a bank failing somewhere across the country.

For six consecutive weeks, industry regulators have seized control of a bank after the market closed on Friday, bringing the total number of failed banks so far this year to 14.

To put that into perspective, 25 banks failed in 2008, suggesting that the rate of failures is quickening as the economic crisis deepens.

“We’ll have a banner year [of failures] this year,” said Stuart Greenbaum, retired dean and professor emeritus at the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis.        Breaking News

Investors vent on Madoff

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Investors allegedly swindled in the largest Ponzi scheme in history reacted furiously when they learned Friday that Bernard Madoff didn’t put any of their money into securities for at least 13 years.

Several hundred of the 2,350 Madoff creditors gathered at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan to learn about the status of their claims and to revile the man accused of stealing their life savings.

Irving Picard, the court-appointed trustee for the liquidation of Madoff’s assets, told the crowd of angry investors that investigators, in their search of at least 7,000 boxes of financial documents, “found no evidence to suggest that securities were purchased for customer accounts.”        Breaking News

Keep the banks private

WASHINGTON – The White House is standing by the private banking system.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs was asked Friday about speculation that the Obama administration may seek to nationalize two financial bellwethers, Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp.  Gibbs responded that the administration continues to “strongly believe that a privately held banking system is the correct way to go.” Along with that, he said, the government must ensure that banks are sufficiently regulated.        Breaking News

Feds sue swiss bank UBS for identity of U.S. accts

Suit seeks information on as many as 52,000 U.S. customers

BERN, Switzerland – Federal authorities have filed a lawsuit against Swiss-based bank UBS AG seeking the identities of tens of thousands of U.S. customers.

The suit filed in Miami Thursday seeks to force the firm to turn over information on as many as 52,000 U.S. customers who hid their accounts from the U.S. government in violation of tax laws. According to the government’s lawsuit, the accounts in question held about $14.8 billion in assets in the past decade.

The company said it will fight in court to keep the names private, arguing Swiss bank secrecy laws shield those customers.  A federal judge will now decide whether the U.S. courts can force a bank to violate Swiss bank secrecy laws and provide the account information.       Breaking News

Stanford fears hit banks in Antigua and Caracas

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – Hundreds of people lined up to withdraw money from banks in Antigua and Caracas affiliated with Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford, a day after the tycoon was charged with an $8 billion fraud.

Meanwhile, the brash, 58-year-old financier sought to get a one-way flight out of the U.S. to Antigua, CNBC reported Wednesday. Citing an unnamed source in the private jet industry, CNBC said Stanford contacted a private jet owner Tuesday and attempted to pay for the flight with a credit card, but was refused because the company would only accept a wire transfer.        Breaking News

Banks still not lending, Treasury reports

WASHINGTON — Some of the largest recipients of aid from the government’s $700 billion financial-rescue plan didn’t increase lending to consumers and businesses in the last three months of 2008, the Treasury Department said.

A Treasury survey of the 20 largest banks that have received funds through the government’s $250 billion capital-injection program disclosed that lending in the last quarter of 2008 was stagnant or declined slightly.

“Due to decreasing loan demand and tighter underwriting standards, as well as other factors such as charge-offs, or losses written off on loans, banks reported a general trend of modestly declining total loan balances,” the Treasury said in the report released Tuesday.        Breaking News

R. Allen Stanford charged in $8 Billion Fraud

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday filed civil charges against financier R. Allen Stanford, alleging he orchestrated a multibillion dollar scheme centering on an $8 billion certificate of deposit program.

Meanwhile, U.S. marshals and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, arriving in a fleet of Chevy Suburbans and GMC pickup trucks with tinted windows, swarmed Stanford’s Houston headquarters as early as 9 a.m. Central time, according to witnesses who saw them.  Stanford International Bank Ltd. and related firms controlled by Mr. Stanford have fallen under scrutiny by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the SEC and other regulatory bodies.

The bank has said it has more than 30,000 investors and $8.5 billion in assets. It says the larger group of which it is a part manages over $51 billion in assets.        Breaking News