(Reuters) - U.S. government officials seeking to revamp the financial bailout have discussed spending another $1 trillion (709 billion pounds) to $2 trillion to help restore banks to health, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.
The paper said the Barack Obama administration could announce its plans within days but has not yet determined the final shape of its new proposal, and the exact details could change.
The administration is also seeking more effective ways to pump money into banks, and is considering buying common shares in the banks, according to the paper.
New U.S. bank bailout could cost up to $2 trillion
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
UK bank shares plummet despite new bailout plan
LONDON, England (CNN) -- Shares in UK banks continued to fall Monday, despite new plans announced by the government to help financial institutions affected by the global financial crisis -- only months after a previous multi-billion-dollar bailout.
Royal Bank of Scotland -- which earlier Monday posted a UK corporate record loss of up to £28 billion ($41.5 billion) last year -- saw its shares plummet by 68 percent by 1620 GMT.
Other shares also hit included Lloyds, which dropped 32 per cent; HSBC, down by 11 percent; and Barclays, which lost around a quarter of its value Friday -- a drop of 16 percent.
The new UK program, which the government calls the Asset Protection Scheme, "is designed to protect financial institutions against exposure to exceptional future credit losses on certain portfolios of assets," the Treasury said in a statement -- in other words remove or limit the toxic debt which has created much of the financial crisis.
UK bank shares plummet despite new bailout plan
We are not alone in this hysteria. The rest of the world also loves our "Throw good money at bad investments" plan.
When inflation hits us next we can always stabilize the cost of food. Isn't that what the Russians did. Hush, bad boy.
Royal Bank of Scotland -- which earlier Monday posted a UK corporate record loss of up to £28 billion ($41.5 billion) last year -- saw its shares plummet by 68 percent by 1620 GMT.
Other shares also hit included Lloyds, which dropped 32 per cent; HSBC, down by 11 percent; and Barclays, which lost around a quarter of its value Friday -- a drop of 16 percent.
The new UK program, which the government calls the Asset Protection Scheme, "is designed to protect financial institutions against exposure to exceptional future credit losses on certain portfolios of assets," the Treasury said in a statement -- in other words remove or limit the toxic debt which has created much of the financial crisis.
UK bank shares plummet despite new bailout plan
We are not alone in this hysteria. The rest of the world also loves our "Throw good money at bad investments" plan.
When inflation hits us next we can always stabilize the cost of food. Isn't that what the Russians did. Hush, bad boy.
Some bailout recipients upped lobby spending in 4Q
WASHINGTON (AP) — Some big banks and an automaker increased the amount they spent to lobby the government late last year even as they received billions from the $700 billion financial rescue program.
The action raises questions about the propriety of big companies getting taxpayer support at the same time they're pressing the government for legislative and regulatory help.
"There's a smell to companies that are on the government dole lobbying for more money and lobbying for less oversight," said Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director at Public Interest Research Group. "Nobody knows what they're doing with the (government) money, but we know that they're hiring lobbyists to get more money."
Companies that have received the most bailout funds, including Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp., are not specifying how much they spent on lobbying on the rescue program. They insist that no bailout money was used for lobbying.
Some bailout recipients upped lobby spending in 4Q
This had to happen eventually. Lobbying for a bailout has really high return on investment. No business can say no to that.
The action raises questions about the propriety of big companies getting taxpayer support at the same time they're pressing the government for legislative and regulatory help.
"There's a smell to companies that are on the government dole lobbying for more money and lobbying for less oversight," said Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director at Public Interest Research Group. "Nobody knows what they're doing with the (government) money, but we know that they're hiring lobbyists to get more money."
Companies that have received the most bailout funds, including Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp., are not specifying how much they spent on lobbying on the rescue program. They insist that no bailout money was used for lobbying.
Some bailout recipients upped lobby spending in 4Q
This had to happen eventually. Lobbying for a bailout has really high return on investment. No business can say no to that.
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