[Vision2020] Some of these whores operate in Moscow

[Art Deco]

  [image: The New York Times] <http://www.nytimes.com/>


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April 5, 2012
Banks Always Win

Citing “unsafe and unsound” foreclosure practices, the Federal Reserve said
recently that it plans to penalize eight financial
firms<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/02/business/fed-targets-eight-more-firms-in-foreclosure-probe.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=federal%20reserve&st=cse>—
HSBC’s United States bank division, SunTrust Bank, MetLife, U.S.
Bancorp,
PNC Financial Services, EverBank, OneWest and Goldman Sachs. We’ll believe
it when we see it.

If recent history is any guide, regulators are more likely to offer the
banks a way to avoid fines for harmful and egregious behavior. That means
there will be no deterrent against future misbehavior.

A year ago, the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency entered into legal agreements with the nation’s biggest banks and
with many of those cited above, requiring them to clean up their sloppy
foreclosure processes. In February, they finally got around to assessing a
total of $1.2 billion in penalties against the big guys, including JPMorgan
Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citigroup.

The banks do not have to actually pay the fines. The regulators said that
no money will be owed as long as the banks fulfill their obligations under
a separate $26 billion foreclosure settlement with state attorneys general
and the Department of Justice. Most of that obligation can be met through
loan modifications and other relief.

The eight banks now in the Fed’s sights have not signed on to the
foreclosure settlement. But regulators have urged them to do so, and you
can bet that if they do, penalties against them will also be waived.

The Treasury Department is also determined to coddle the banks. Under the
Obama administration’s antiforeclosure program, banks receive
taxpayer-provided incentive payments when they successfully modify troubled
loans. Last year, the Treasury withheld $89.1 million in payments from
JPMorgan Chase and $81.8 million from Bank of America, citing widespread
problems with processing and customer service. In March, the Treasury
announced that as part of the foreclosure settlement, it has agreed to
release the withheld incentives.

Some regulators have said that waiving the fines helped to get the banks to
settle — no kidding! — and that the most important thing is for the banks
to provide the relief called for in the settlement. Banks should have to
live up to the settlement and pay stiff fines. With anything less,
regulators are planting the seeds for future crises.

 More in Opinion (12 of 22 articles)Editorial: A Good Education With the
G.I. Bill<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/06/opinion/a-good-education-with-the-gi-bill.html?src=un&feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Fjson8.nytimes.com%2Fpages%2Fopinion%2Findex.jsonp>

Read More »<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/06/opinion/a-good-education-with-the-gi-bill.html?src=un&feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Fjson8.nytimes.com%2Fpages%2Fopinion%2Findex.jsonp>

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-- 
Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
art.deco.studios at gmail.com
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