Hearings Sought on Federal Role in Merrill Deal Wall Street Journal May 1, 2009 Lawmakers likely will call for hearings to inquire about the involvement of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve in Bank of America Corp.'s purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D., Mass.) took a new stance Thursday, saying there… Read more »
- Congressman Spencer Bachus (AL), the top Financial Services Committee Republican, issued the following statement regarding credit card legislation being considered by the House today: "We are in the midst of a severe economic downturn. Home values are plummeting, unemployment is up and hard-working Americans are facing unprecedented difficulties in securing credit. But this… Read more »
- Congressman Spencer Bachus (R-AL), the top Financial Services Republican, urged Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) in a letter to hold hearings examining the allegations that Bank of America's (BofA) Chief Executive, Ken Lewis, was directed by the Federal Reserve Chairman and the former Treasury Secretary to remain quiet, or risk being terminated, leading up to BofA's government-brokered… Read more »
- Congressman Spencer Bachus (R-AL), the top Financial Services Republican, has written Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA), asking that the panel look further into the application of mark-to-market, or fair value, accounting standards. "While FASB acted expeditiously to respond to many of the concerns raised by the Subcommittee Members during a March 12 hearing, questions remain as to… Read more »
President Obama and Washington Democrats have overpromised and under-delivered during the first 100 days of this administration's watch. Between the Democrats' so-called stimulus, the additional billions in TARP funds, the Fed's ballooning balance sheet, billions more for their housing bailout, and the untold taxpayer risk that will come from their toxic assets plan, they are… Read more »
- Congressman Spencer Bachus (R-AL), the top Financial Services Committee Republican, gave the following statement during a full committee hearing today on proposed mortgage reform legislation: Mr. Chairman, thank you for calling today's hearing. The subject of today's hearing is H.R. 1728, the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act. Before I go in detail about my specific… Read more »
– Congressman Spencer Bachus (R-AL), the top Financial Services Republican issued the following statement regarding a report issued today by TARP Inspector General Neil Barofksy: “Today’s report, which highlights multiple shortcomings in Treasury’s implementation of the TARP, should serve as a wake-up call for Congress on the need for a commonsense exit… Read more »
- Congressman Spencer Bachus (AL), the top Financial Services Committee Republican, issued the following statement regarding Goldman Sachs' announcement that it will be returning $10 billion in TARP funds: "Goldman Sachs' announcement that it intends to return $10 billion in TARP funds to the Treasury - and the fact that taxpayers can expect a substantial return on their… Read more »
Congressman Spencer Bachus (AL), the top Financial Services Committee Republican, issued this statement regarding legislation he introduced to prevent TARP recipients from gaming the Public-Private Investment Program: "If reports circulating in the financial press are accurate that financial institutions are colluding to swap assets at inflated prices using taxpayers' dollars, the… Read more »
Congressman Spencer Bachus (AL), the top Financial Services Committee Republican, who has played a leading role in working to ensure that financial accounting rules do not worsen the current economic downturn, issued this statement on the Financial Accounting Standards Board's (FASB) adoption of modifications to mark to market rules: "Today's announcement that the FASB will be… Read more »
