(Daily Finance) — A change in the way banks are assessed for federal deposit insurance means that small community banks will pay dramatically less in fees beginning next year. But customers of big banks may still be better off than clients of their smaller rivals. The five-member board of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. voted […]
(Wall Street Journal) — The U.S. Federal Reserve unveiled an online consumers’ guide to credit scores and credit reports. The straight-forward guide includes the basics: What a credit score is, how it is used and why it is important to protect your credit history. But what is perhaps more significant is what that guide is meant […]
(Alternet) — Goodman: As we continue our discussion on the state of the economy, we’re by veteran journalist and Truthdig.com editor Robert Scheer. His book is just out; it’s called The Great American Stickup: How Reagan Republicans and Clinton Democrats Enriched Wall Street While Mugging Main Street. What is wrong with the economy today? And […]
(Inc) — Small-business owners have been slapped with credit card interest rate increases of more than 30 percent since January 2010 because their cards aren’t getting the same protections as those of consumers, says a new study. The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act, enacted last year, limits rate increases, requires banks to apply payments to higher-rate […]
(New York Times) — Daniel S. Loeb, the hedge fund manager, was one of Barack Obama’s biggest backers in the 2008 presidential campaign. A registered Democrat, Mr. Loeb has given and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Democrats. Less than a year ago, he was considered to be among the Wall Street elite still close enough […]
(CNN Money) — New rules designed to protect credit card users from “unreasonable late payment and other penalty fees” come into force Sunday as a result of legislation passed last year. The rules block credit card companies from charging more than $25 for late payments except in extreme circumstances, prevent them from charging customers for not using […]
(Target Market News) — Tucked into the Wall Street reform measure was a little-noticed provision pushing for more diversity in the disproportionately white and male world of finance, and its potentially far-reaching implications have set off alarm bells among conservatives and some in the financial sector. The provision pushes all federally regulated financial firms that do […]
(Time) — Want to stimulate the economy and lower the foreclosure rate without adding a dime to the federal deficit. Not possible you say. Not so, says Morgan Stanley. Economists at the Wall Street firm are promoting what they are calling the Slam Dunk Stimulus plan, which they say could add $46 billion a year […]
(Newsweek) — Sometime this spring, Democrats stopped calling Sen. Chris Dodd’s bill “financial reform” and started calling it “Wall Street reform.” Most of the reporting focused on the legislation’s affect on the upper crust of finance—investment banks, private-equity firms, and hedge funds. But the bill President Obama signed into law last Thursday will have a […]
(News One) — The title of the bill may be misleading for Main Street people, but the landmark bill–the most aggressive financial reform bill since the Great Depression–was signed into law today by President Obama. Here’s how it will affect you: *Emergency Mortgage Relief: The program makes more than $1 billion in federal funds available to […]
(Washington Post) — Congress has passed the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, but the task of transforming our economy into one of shared and sustainable prosperity has only just begun. Structural reform will come not through the sweep of a single piece of legislation but with new, innovative economic models that better reflect the […]
President Obama passes historic financial reform legislation.