Finance

Washington, DC – Yesterday, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation that would reform the credit card industry sooner than originally planned, providing much-needed relief to the millions of families who rely on credit to make ends meet. This reform comes at a critical time when unemployment continues to skyrocket and our country struggles to work its way out of recession.    » read more »

November 4, 2009 -- (WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Congressman Jason Altmire (PA-04) voted for legislation that will protect consumers from being hit with costly credit card fees and interest rate increases right before the holidays. The Expedited CARD Reform for Consumers Act (H.R. 3639) would ensure that several credit card reforms signed into law earlier this year will go into effect as soon as the President signs H.R. 3639 into law, rather than early next year. This bill passed today by a vote of 331-92.    » read more »

Washington, D.C., Nov. 5, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a pair of lawyers for tipping inside information in exchange for kickbacks as well as six Wall Street traders and a proprietary trading firm involved in a $20 million insider trading scheme.    » read more »

Moody’s, Fitch, S&P affirm Commonwealth’s ‘AA’ credit rating with stable outlook following Governor’s FY10 budget solutions

BOSTON – Thursday, November 05, 2009 – Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick today announced that the Commonwealth's bond ratings have been affirmed by the three major rating agencies, all of whom cited the Governor’s responsible and proactive stewardship of the Commonwealth’s finances during the current economic downturn as a leading credit strength.

Fitch Ratings, Moody's Investor Services and Standard & Poor's all affirmed the Commonwealth's credit ratings at AA, Aa2, and AA with a stable outlook.    » read more »

Hall co-sponsored legislation would end credit card companies' tricks on Dec 1

November 2, 2009 --
Washington, DC – With credit card companies doubling interest rates on consumers and ramping up other unfair practices in advance of the Credit Card Holders Bill of Rights taking effect in February, U.S. Rep. John Hall (D-Dover) is pushing to speed up the effective date to December 1st to give consumers badly needed relief in time for the holiday season.    » read more »

November 2, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. -- The U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced its current estimates of marketable borrowing for the October – December 2009 and the January – March 2010 quarters:

* During the October – December quarter, Treasury expects to issue $276 billion in net marketable debt, assuming an end-of-December cash balance of $85 billion, which includes $15 billion for the Supplementary Financing Program (SFP). The borrowing estimate is $209 billion lower than announced in July 2009. The decrease in borrowing is primarily related to cash balance adjustments related to the SFP, and lower outlays offset partially by lower receipts.    » read more »

November 3, 2009 -- The U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced that on October 30, 2009 Angelo, Gordon & Co., L.P. and GE Capital Real Estate completed an initial closing of a Public-Private Investment Fund (PPIF) established under the Legacy Securities Public-Private Investment Program (PPIP). Small, minority-, and women-owned businesses that are partnering with Angelo, Gordon & Co., L.P. and GE Capital Real Estate include:

* CastleOak Securities, L.P.
* Park Madison Partners LLC.    » read more »

Washington, DC - 10/28/2009 - One hundred percent of credit cards offered online by the leading bank card issuers continue to include practices that will be outlawed once legislation passed in May takes effect next year, according to a new report by the Pew Health Group’s Safe Credit Cards Project. The report also found that advertised credit card interest rates rose an average of 20 percent in the first two quarters of 2009, even as banks’ cost of lending declined.

With the Federal Reserve currently developing rules to ensure penalty charges are “reasonable and proportional” as required under the Credit CARD Act, the report also includes policy recommendations for regulators.    » read more »

Debt-strapped consumers would get relief from unscrupulous industry practices

November 3, 2009 -- Consumer Federation of America (CFA) and 18 other consumer organizations filed joint comments with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) supporting amendments to the Telemarketing Sales Rule that would protect debt-strapped consumers from unscrupulous practices by companies that offer to arrange payment plans with their creditors, get their interest rates or fees reduced, or settle their debts for pennies on the dollar.

In their comments, the consumer groups agreed with the FTC that some debt relief companies mislead consumers about the results they can expect and the impact that such services can have on their credit.    » read more »

Cites Chamber President Donohue’s own track record as director of scandal-ridden companies

November 2, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. – Change to Win (CtW) Chair Anna Burger today called on members of the House Committee on Financial Services to reject the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s less than credible rhetoric and to approve the Waters/Peters Amendment to the Investor Protection Act of 2009 in this Wednesday’s vote. The Waters/Peters amendment affirms the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) authority to adopt a uniform proxy access rule.    » read more »

November 2, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) today announced her support for the Credit Card Rate Freeze Act of 2009, by signing on as a co-sponsor. This legislation will immediately freeze credit card interest rates on all existing balances for consumers. The bill serves as a supplement to the consumer protection measure, the Credit CARD Act, which passed earlier this year.

Under that law, beginning February 2010, credit cards can no longer arbitrarly raise interest rates, fees and finance charges on a customer’s existing balance. Credit card companies are currently using the grace period as an opportunity to raise interest rates and fees before the Credit CARD Act goes into effect.    » read more »

Unveils New Plan To Make Credit Reporting Companies Advertising 'Free' Credit Reports Actually Give You A Credit Report For Free - Bust Up Scam Once And For All

November 3, 2009 -- Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced he is urging the Federal Trade Commission to bust up the long-running scam of credit reporting companies duping millions of New Yorkers into buying credit monitoring services by offering a so-called “free credit report” and then tacking on a costly monthly subscriptions charge that can cost hundreds of dollars a year.    » read more »

Washington, D.C., Oct. 30, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged the former chief financial officer of a San Francisco private investment firm and six of his relatives and friends with insider trading, alleging that their scheme collectively reaped more than $8 million in illicit profits from unlawful trades in the securities of Tempur-pedic International, Inc. and Acxiom Corporation.    » read more »

Mortgagee Review Board proposes to permanently withdraw FHA approval from Financial Mortgage USA

October 30, 2009 -- WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today announced that its Mortgagee Review Board (MRB) is proposing to permanently withdraw the HUD/FHA approval of Financial Mortgage USA, Inc., a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM or reverse mortgage) lender based in Honolulu, Hawaii.

HUD's MRB alleges the Company failed to implement an FHA-required quality control plan; separate its lending operations from those of its affiliated insurance company; conform to prudent lending practices; and properly provide borrowers with housing counseling services.    » read more »

New Markets Tax Credit Program Includes $1.5 Billion Awarded Under the Recovery Act

October 30, 2009 -- CHICAGO-- As part of the Obama Administration's efforts to revive local economies, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner today visited a job training center in Chicago benefiting from private sector investments made through the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program. As part of his visit, Geithner announced $5 billion in NMTC awards, including $1.5 billion made possible through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act), for more than 90 organizations in communities around the country.    » read more »