Why Should Taxpayers Give Big Banks $83 Billion a Year? On television, in interviews and in meetings with investors, executives of the biggest U.S. banks -- notably JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Chief Executive Jamie Dimon -- make the case that size is a competitive advantage. It helps them lower costs and vie for customers on an international scale. Limiting it, they warn, would impair profitability and weaken the country’s position in global finance. Spanish doctors told to prescribe cheaper generic drugs. In a move designed to save €2.4bn (£2.1bn) a year, Spain's socialist government has passed a law forcing doctors and pharmacies to prescribe generic drugs rather than the more expensive brand names sold by pharmaceutical companies.
Spanish doctors will now have to complete prescriptions giving only the details of the active ingredients of the medicine that their patients must take, as well as the dose and format. The drugs are paid for partly by the state and partly by patients. Pharmacies will be obliged to provide the cheapest available versions of drugs, which will frequently mean not the better-known brand names sold by the big drugs firms. The government believes the overall saving to the state and to the regional governments who administer health, combined with other drug-price reduction measures adopted on Tuesday, will be about €2.4bn (£2.09bn) a year. Homeowner says Bank of America foreclosure notice doesn't add up. Ed Murray/The Star-Ledger Mark Conca in front of his Caldwell home, he is having trouble with his mortgage holder Bank of America.
As a real estate agent, Mark Conca has watched homeowners struggle to make their mortgage payments. He’s seen a lot of short sales and foreclosures in recent years, and he’s even assisted homeowners looking for mortgage modifications. He didn’t want to be one of them. But the distressed housing market put a major dent in Conca’s commission-based income. He said he still paid his bills on time, but his savings account was dwindling. Schneiderman Is Said to Face Pressure to Back Bank Deal. Associated Press.
US Made $1.2 Trillion in Secret Loans to 10 Biggest Banks. Aug 22, 2011 This morning a report by Bloomberg News shatters everything we thought we knew about the US financial crisis.
In 2008, as the financial crisis descended into chaos that rattled the foundations of the country, the Federal Reserve announced a $700 billion bank bailout called TARP, in addition to a $160 billion public bailout meant to bolster the balance sheets of America’s biggest banks. As the bets they’d made turned bad and lax regulations required them to have little cash on hand to deal with such a crisis, the Fed was forced to step in as lender of last resort, or face the potential insolvency of America.
Today, for the first time, we find out that’s only half the picture—literally. Banking giant plans to cut 25,000 more jobs - Business - World business. News of the World phone-hacking whistleblower found dead. Sean Hoare, the former News of the World showbusiness reporter who was the first named journalist to allege that Andy Coulson was aware of phone hacking by his staff, has been found dead .
Hoare, who worked on the Sun and the News of the World with Coulson before being dismissed for drink and drugs problems, was said to have been found at his Watford home. Hertfordshire police would not confirm his identity, but said in a statement: "At 10.40am today [Monday 18 July] police were called to Langley Road, Watford, following the concerns for the welfare of a man who lives at an address on the street. Upon police and ambulance arrival at a property, the body of a man was found. The man was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after. Letting Bankers Walk. Ever since the current economic crisis began, it has seemed that five words sum up the central principle of United States financial policy: go easy on the bankers.
This principle was on display during the final months of the Bush administration, when a huge lifeline for the banks was made available with few strings attached. It was equally on display in the early months of the Obama administration, when President Obama reneged on his campaign pledge to “change our bankruptcy laws to make it easier for families to stay in their homes.” And the principle is still operating right now, as federal officials press state attorneys general to accept a very modest settlement from banks that engaged in abusive mortgage practices.
Why the kid-gloves treatment? Money and influence no doubt play their part; Wall Street is a huge source of campaign donations, and agencies that are supposed to regulate banks often end up serving them instead. It doesn’t. Jailed for cashing Chase check at Chase bank. AUBURN, Wash. - Buying his own home was a big accomplishment for construction worker, Ikenna Njoku, of Auburn.
He’s only 28 years old. “I was really excited. For the first time, I actually got to buy a lawn mower, mow my lawn and everything,” said Njoku.