Results tagged “timothygeithner”

Treasury Secretary Timohty Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress that the "U.S. government needs to be able to take over and wind down a broad range of economically important non-bank financial institutions," the Wall Street Journal reports." Geither gave an example, "As we have seen with AIG, distress at large, interconnected, non-depository financial institutions can pose systemic risks just as distress at banks can." Bernanke added, "If a federal agency had had such tools on Sept. 16, they could have been used to put AIG into conservatorship or receivership, unwind it slowly, protect policyholders, and impose haircuts on creditors and counterparties as appropriate." The Fed Chairman also said he knew about the AIG bonuses last fall, warned AIG about them, and wanted to sue, but was told suing could give the bank big punitive damages if the government lost the case. The pair's testimony did help stocks rally in the afternoon, but ultimately the markets lost a little of yesterday's ground.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will announce details of the Obama administration's plan to deal with bank's toxic assets—it's like Treasury Department Superfunding! According to the NY Times, "The plan relies on private investors to team with the government to relieve banks of assets tied to loans and mortgage-linked securities of unknown value. There have been virtually no buyers of these assets because of their uncertain risk." The government wants to use up to $100 billion in TARP funds plus hundreds of billions from private investors to buy up $500 billion in bad assets; the treasury said the program could "expand to $1 trillion over time." Apparently U.S. stocks are poised for a "strong rally" in advance of the announcement (world stocks are up), but let's remember that the last time Geither made a big announcement, the stock market freaked out.

While Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says the U.S. government is demanding that the AIG pay back extravagant bonuses, some suggest he should have known about the "retention compensation" since he was NY Federal Reserve chairman when the government bailed out the insurer. Senator Christopher Dodd even said that the Treasury forced him to add language to the stimulus bill that created a loophole preserving the bonuses. The NY Times's feature on Geithner calls this a "defining moment," reporting how he works 15 hour days and that he's doing of work "without the usual complement of Treasury assistants because of administration delays in vetting potential nominees — a consequence in part of its efforts to avoid embarrassments like the disclosures of Mr. Geithner’s past tax lapses." Political consultant Joe Trippi tells Politico that Geithner needs to fight back or else, "Some of this anger that is dissipated when it is aimed at AIG or Treasury could start to take a toll on the president and the White House."

A day after the Treasury announced the Obama administration's bank rescue plans—and the stock market fell drastically—Wall Street bank executives are headed to testify in front of Congress. And you'll be comforted to know they aren't taking private jets; CNBC reports, CEOS of Wells Fargo, Bank of New York Mellon, State Street, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup "are taking commercial flights to Washington for the hearing," while the heads of JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America are taking the train. Nightline's Terry Moran spoke to President Obama yesterday, saying, "Judging by the reaction in the markets Wall Street really doesn't like" the bailout plans to which the president replied, "Well, you know, Wall Street I think is hoping for an easy out on this thing and there is no easy out. Essentially what you've got are a set a banks that have not been as transparent as we need to be in terms of what their books look like." But Obama did add, "Keep in mind though, there are a lot of banks that are actually pretty well managed -- JP Morgan being a good example."

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner didn't get the reception he was probably hoping for after revealing the new bank bailout plan that may involve $2 trillion: The Dow Jones Industrial Average has fallen over 300 points/almost 4% (at this point), and the S&P 500 has dropped over 4% and the Nasdaq is off by 3.54%. The main complaint: The lack of details. Asset manager Joseph Keating told Bloomberg News, "The lack of clarity [on the public-private investment fund] has the market upset. Nationalization could have been a better outcome for some banks.” Another investment strategist said, “Everybody is disappointed in the lack of details. They came out and said, ‘We want you to believe that we’re still working on this.’ Well, we knew that last night.”

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is set to unveil the Obama administration's take on the bank bailout plan at 11 a.m. this morning. The NY Times reports that he "largely prevailed in opposing tougher conditions on financial institutions that were sought by presidential aides" (like David Axelrod) and "successfully fought against more severe limits on executive pay for companies receiving government aid. He resisted those who wanted to dictate how banks would spend their rescue money. And he prevailed over top administration aides who wanted to replace bank executives and wipe out shareholders at institutions receiving aid." And, still, stock futures fell! Politico has some of Geithner's prepared remarks: "Instead of catalyzing recovery, the financial system is working against recovery, and that’s the dangerous dynamic we need to change."

Treasury Secretary-designate Timothy Geithner, who was recommended for confirmation by the Senate Finance Committee (vote: 18-5), has strong words for China. The written statement read, "President Obama — backed by the conclusions of a broad range of economists — believes that China is manipulating its currency." The NY Times points out, "The Bush administration purposely did not use the term 'currency manipulator' to avoid antagonizing the Chinese, even when it was criticizing China’s trade policies." A China-U.S. relations expert tells Reuters "China is going to be extremely unhappy, to say the least. For administration officials, I do not think any one has ever pointed a finger so strongly at China," and a former U.S. Trade official said to Bloomberg, "It opens a Pandora’s box. We need the Chinese to hold onto their Treasury and agency debt." However, Rep. Charles Rangel was on board: "What they can’t work out diplomatically we can work out legislatively. The [Ways & Means] committee has been saying for years [that China has manipulated the yuan’s value.]" China has about $1 trillion of U.S. debt.

Treasury Secretary designate Timothy Geithner, under prodding from the Senate Finance Committee, said that he misfiled his taxes between 2001 and 2003—resulting in unpaid taxes discovered only during his vetting last fall—while using Turbo Tax. Geithner was quick to say, "I want to say I take full responsibility" in taking the fault (and not blame the computer software), and the Washington Post was amused, "The man charged with leading this nation out of recession -- an architect of the $700 billion financial rescue package -- hunched over a computer, surrounded by stacks of paper, trying to figure out his taxes, just like the 18 million other working stiffs who bought TurboTax last year." Geithner's snafu stems from freelance work at the IMF—he thought he was an employee while the IMF just considered him a contractor and did not take out his taxes. At any rate, he's expected to be confirmed next week.

Treasury Secretary-designate Timothy Geithner is back in front of the Senate, his first appearance since revelations that he didn't pay $34,000 in taxes between 2001 and 2004, and he said it was "careless, and avoidable, but unintentional... I should have been more careful." The unpaid taxes were apparently due to Geithner's "freelance" work at the IMF, which did not take out money for taxes; Geithner was alerted to the oversight while the Obama transition team was vetting him last fall and he paid the taxes plus interest. At any rate, CNBC says Geithner is expected to be confirmed, "barring a major misstep at the hearing." And in his opening remarks, the day after Wall Street's big Inaugural Day egg, Geithner said, "Our test is to act with the strength, speed and care necessary to get our economy back on track."

Yesterday, it was revealed that Treasury nominee Timothy Geithner didn't pay $34,000 in taxes between 2001 and 2004. Geithner, according to the NY Times, "huddled privately with members of the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday afternoon to explain that he had now paid the back taxes and interest" (though he didn't pay most of it until last November). Now his confirmation hearings have been postponed.

The Dow ended above 8,000, rising 494 points (+6.54%), most in the closing hour. The Nasdaq rose 5.19% and S&P 500 was up 6.32%. The enthusiasm was due to news (or yet another leak) that President-elect Obama will nominate Timothy Geithner as Treasury Secretary. Geithner, who was born in Brooklyn, has been the New York Federal Reserve Bank President since 2003 and has also worked at the IMF and Council on Foreign Relations. While one trader told the NY Times, “It was almost a Geithner relief rally," another said, "What you’re seeing is a rally off the headlines. The markets are applauding change. It’s a hope that change will bring some sort of effectiveness to these plans and ultimately make a road map to come out of it.”