SoberLook – The Risks of Holding on to TARP Money – Author: Walter Kurtz - (using CDS) … But there is another effect in financials’ credit risk. The banks that are still TARP banks have widened much more than the non-TARP (the banks that paid off the TARP money): … – riskcenter.com
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good commentary – Ten Thousand Commandments – “The government’s reach extends even beyond the taxes Washington collects and the deficit spending and borrowing now surging.” Clyde Wayne Crews Jr.  – Casey’s Charts

PPIP has arrived – JOINT STATEMENT BY SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY TIMOTHY F. GEITHNER, CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM BEN S. BERNANKE, AND CHAIRMAN OF THE FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION SHEILA BAIR – Legacy Asset Program – FinancialStability.gov
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Pimco leaves Wall St. asking why it nixed toxic-asset plan – Why did bond titan Pimco suddenly pull its application to join the Treasury’s long-awaited program to buy toxic mortgage securities from banks and other investors?  The government on Wednesday named nine money managers for the program, and Pimco wasn’t among them — even though the firm’s well-known bond guru, Bill Gross, was in the New York Times just last month detailing how the program structure “puts the odds in your favor” as an investor in the securities. – LA Times Money and Company Blog

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Press Release – SIFMA SUPPORTS IMPLEMENTATION OF PPIP 

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Fed should quit consumer protection – Mishkin – The U.S. Federal Reserve should relinquish its consumer protection powers in order to do a better job of combating systemic risk, a former Fed policy-maker told Congress in testimony released on Tuesday. – Reuters

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Treasury Works on ‘Plan C’ To Fend Off Lingering Threats - Troubling Issues in Lending Could Still Disrupt Economy – By David Cho and Binyamin Appelbaum – the Treasury Department has assembled a team to examine what could yet bring it down and has identified several trouble spots that could threaten the still-fragile lending industry. … The officials in charge of Plan C — named to allude to a last line of defense — face a particular challenge in addressing the breakdown of commercial real estate lending. … – Washington Post 

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Let’s Treat Borrowers Like Adults – The problems with a financial products safety panel. – By TODD J. ZYWICKI – … They have also led the Obama administration to propose creating a consumer financial product safety commission to protect homeowners from dangerous loans. The premise of this proposal is that the financial crisis was created by predatory lenders taking advantage of hapless borrowers. … Treating all consumers as hapless victims rather than recognizing that many consumers rationally respond to incentives is a recipe for unintended consequences. It can lead to counterproductive regulation that makes loans more expensive and harder to get. … – Wall Street Journal Opinion

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In making it hard for private equity investors to enter the banking business, Sheila Bair isn’t doing the FDIC or the federal government any favors – Bair: Banks Should Have Inside Track On Deals – Really? What good does that do the FDIC? – Thomas Brown  – bankstocks.com 

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Maine Shuts Out 15 Mortgage Rescue Companies – By AUSTIN KILGORE – Regulators in Maine ordered 15 so-called “mortgage rescue” companies to stop doing business in the state because they took advanced fees from homeowners but did nothing to help their clients. – housingwire.com 

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