Paulson Anticipates Buying Stakes in Thousands of U.S. Banks http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=avTU6YuLG_Mw&refer=home
Oct. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson plans to use $250 billion of taxpayer funds to purchase stakes in thousands of financial firms to halt a credit freeze that threatened to bankrupt companies and hammer the job market. ``Leaving businesses and consumers without access to financing is totally unacceptable,'' Paulson said in Washington. He rolled out the emergency program after a crisis of confidence in the financial system last week spurred the biggest stock sell- off since 1933. Paulson urged companies getting the government funds to ``deploy'' the money in loans. The Treasury chief was forced to change tack from an initial plan to buy distressed assets from banks after the financial panic caused banks to hoard cash and send money market rates to record levels. In its biggest effort yet to halt the 14-month credit rout, officials will also offer guarantees on new bank debts and start purchasing commercial paper in two weeks. The Treasury's stock buying program will begin with nine banks, which it didn't name. People briefed on the matter said $125 billion will be put in the nine: Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Wells Fargo & Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp., Merrill Lynch & Co., Morgan Stanley, State Street Corp. and Bank of New York Mellon Corp. ``These are healthy institutions, and they have taken this step for the good of the U.S. economy,'' Paulson said. ``These institutions, along with thousands of others to come, will have enhanced capacity to perform their vital function of lending,'' President George W. Bush's working group on financial markets said in a separate statement. White House Meeting Bush today said ``this is an essential short-term measure to ensure the viability of the U.S. banking system,'' after meeting with Paulson, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and other members of the working group, which includes the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Stocks rose around the world on expectations the rescue will help alleviate the credit crisis. The Standard & Poor's 500 Stock Index gained 3.1 percent to 1,034.14 at 9:42 a.m. in New York after climbing 12 percent yesterday. The index lost 18 percent last week. With the equity purchases, Paulson is using more than a third of the $700 billion in government support Congress gave him the authority to use on Oct. 3. Participating banks will need to accept limits on executive pay and so- called golden parachute payments. They also will need to give the Treasury warrants for an amount equal to 15 percent of the senior preferred investment, with a strike price determined by the bank's share price at the time of issuance. Dividend Payments The senior preferred shares will pay a dividend of 5 percent for the first five years and 9 percent after that, the Treasury said. The purchase price of the stock will be the market price of the banks' common shares at the time of the transaction. Companies will be able to buy back the equity at par after three years. The government expects to purchase equity in the nine banks within days and to use the full $250 billion by year-end, a Treasury official told reporters on condition of anonymity. While banks would not be forced to cut existing dividends, there would be some restrictions on raising them, the official said. The U.S. initiative followed an announcement that France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Austria committed $1.8 trillion to guarantee bank loans and take stakes in lenders. Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index today climbed 3.4 percent. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index surged 9.3 percent today, the most since 1998, with Japan's Nikkei jumping 14 percent as trading resumed following yesterday's public holiday. Losses Soar Banks have struggled to regain the confidence of investors, counterparties and clients after bad loans caused $637 billion of writedowns and losses across the industry. Last week, the International Monetary Fund estimated that banks around the world would need $675 billion in fresh capital over the next several years to recover. The IMF also said Oct. 7 that financial losses would total $1.4 trillion, an almost 50 percent increase from a prediction in April. Under the plans announced today, the FDIC said it would fully guarantee newly issued, senior unsecured debt and non- interest bearing deposits. The expanded coverage applies to all senior unsecured debt issued on or before June 30, 2009, and deposits in FDIC- insured banks until Dec. 31, 2009. The Fed said in a separate statement that its previously announced program to buy commercial paper will start on Oct. 27. Officials haven't indicated a limit for the total size of the fund. Financial firms participating in the U.S.'s so-called voluntary capital purchase program will need to step up their efforts to stem mortgage foreclosures, Paulson said today. That targets the original spark of the crisis, caused by lax lending terms on subprime home loans. ``The needs of our economy require that our financial institutions not take this new capital to hoard it, but to deploy it,'' the Treasury chief said. On Sep 19, 12:22 am, "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Samurai Rules as U.S. Economy Follows Japan's: William > Pesekhttp://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&sid=aSpyu00BrtNQ&refe... > > Commentary by William Pesek > > Sept. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Chalk it up to bad luck that so many Japanese > bet big on Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. > > The list of out-of-luck Lehman creditors is a who's who of banks in > the second-biggest economy. They hold 202.5 billion yen ($1.9 billion) > of potential Lehman-related losses. And there's even an angle for the > nation's fabled samurai. > > The immediate focus is on Lehman's samurai bonds, yen- denominated > notes sold in Japan by foreign borrowers. If Lehman reneges on its 195 > billion yen of bonds, the shock could be as big as Argentina's default > in 2001. > > The focus is also on the self-described samurai who seems destined to > become Japan's next prime minister next week: Taro Aso, whose Web site > plays up his familial connections to the Satsuma samurai clan. > > There's little excitement in this nation of 127 million over the > prospect of a new leader. ``Another year, another PM,'' notes Richard > Jerram, chief economist at Macquarie Securities Ltd. in Tokyo. All > indications point to Aso, who turns 68 tomorrow, grabbing the helm at > a time of global financial chaos and slowing Japanese growth. > > Is Aso the best person for the job? It's highly debatable. There can > be little doubt the gaffe-prone former foreign minister will make > headlines around Asia. > > Yet many in Tokyo say Japan desperately needs a strong, experienced > and plain-talking leader -- even if economics isn't his thing. > Nicholas Smith, director of equity sales at HSBC Holdings Plc, > explained the dynamic as well as anyone in a recent report titled, > colorfully, ``Who Is This Aso?'' > > U.S. Parallels > > The parallels between Japan's leadership contest and one in the U.S. > are striking. Voters could go with the fresh-faced Barack Obama, 47, > or the been-around-forever John McCain, 72. > > A straight-talker, McCain doesn't fit that description on the U.S. > economy, which he calls fundamentally strong. Asians would disagree, > never mind most Americans. Just ask the hundreds of Singaporean policy > holders thronging a unit of American International Group Inc. the > other day expecting its failure. > > And yet, polls show McCain running neck-and-neck with Obama. It's not > unlike Japan, where younger candidates with more interesting and > nuanced ideas than older, entrenched politicians are virtually > ignored. It's all about perceived experience. > > Reagan Revolution > > An equally important contrast is how the U.S. is becoming more > Japanese than free-market enthusiasts want to admit. U.S. authorities > are now in the banking and insurance businesses. What's next? > Airlines? Carmakers? > > The pro-market revolution championed by Ronald Reagan in the 1980s > isn't looking so good. The Federal Reserve is becoming more and more > Bank of Japan-like, slashing interest rates, providing untold amounts > of liquidity and bailing out weak corporate links. > > There are, of course, big differences between the U.S. and Japan. > Whereas Japan's denial over the financial system lasted a decade, it > has taken about one year for the U.S. to get truly serious. A move now > seems afoot to create a Resolution Trust Corp.-like entity akin to the > one used to dispose of bad debts of savings-and-loan associations in > the 1980s and 1990s. It's recognition of how bad things are. > > Yet Japan had a key advantage over the U.S.: its households were > sitting on vast savings that cushioned consumers during the darkest > days of deflation. Americans are shackled with debt and falling house > prices, a serious weakness as the economy sits on the edge of > recession. > > Recession to Recession > > Japan was able to muddle along for more than 10 years, recession to > recession, because its financial system is as much about socialism as > capitalism. Some critics say the U.S. is hurtling in a similar > direction. Only time will tell. > > U.S. officials must address the causes of the crisis. The problem > isn't the availability of capital but a lack of trust. The faith that > investors had in pieces of paper and financial contracts has been > destroyed. Only regulatory changes of the kind the Bush administration > abhors will restore credibility. > > Japan's woes also are political. It seems Japan is incapable of > functioning amid two-party rule. The ideas of the ruling Liberal > Democratic Party and the opposition Democratic Party of Japan are as > similar as they are vague. Both parties seem to exist only to score > political points against the other. > > Having been abandoned by two leaders in two years, many Japanese are > losing faith in the LDP. It's hardly a promising environment even for > the charismatic Aso. Turmoil in the global economy means Aso's > priority will be to boost the LDP's popularity. While few doubt Aso's > experience, it's likely to lead him to do more of the pork-barrel > spending that left Japan with the world's largest public debt. > > In less chaotic times, the LDP might take a chance with the younger > Yuriko Koike or an experienced economist such as Kaoru Yosano. This is > circle-the-wagons time, though, and an Aso victory is almost assured. > > One reason Japanese banks bet on foreign names like Lehman has been > their inability to get domestic consumers to borrow more. It's a key > dynamic restraining growth. Fixing it will require hard work from all > facets of Japanese society -- including samurai. > > (William Pesek is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed > are his own.) > > On Sep 18, 9:42 pm, "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > Once people know I am from China, the People´s Republic of China, some > > people show interest on my politic ideas. My answer is "I am a > > cherrypicker". After some years using such word, I started to use the > > word "cherrypickism" to name my ideology. > > > "U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve officials are considering a > > ``permanent'' plan to address the financial crisis, said Senator > > Charles Schumer, who proposed a new agency to pump capital into > > troubled financial companies"."Schumer proposed an agency to inject > > funds into financial companies in exchange for equity stakes and > > pledges to rewrite mortgages to make them more affordable." (cites > > from the article linked below). It seems that state-owned corporations > > start to sound appealing in USA. > > >http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ap5S4G6bhJ2M&refe... > > > Peace and best wishes. > > > Xi --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "World-thread" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/world-thread?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
