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Chinese banks find their credit in high demand By Ariana Eunjung Cha Washington Post Foreign Service Saturday, January 2, 2010; A01 BEIJING -- China's state-owned banks have become a main engine of the global recovery, financing the construction of copper mines, purchase of airplanes, expansion of retail stores and other projects even as their U.S. and European counterparts scale back lending. The surge in Chinese lending, triple the 2008 rate, has provided a lifeline to international corporations during the worst recession in decades, and it reflects a diversification in China's global economic role beyond its holdings of vast amounts of...

The Obama administration today announced a new campaign to get mortgage companies to lower mortgage payments for struggling homeowners – and part of the strategy is some old-fashioned "name and shame." Share To date over 650,000 homeowners have entered into trial modifications under the Treasury Department's housing relief plan – a ratio of about one in five eligible borrowers. But the administration – frustrated with the performance of mortgage companies thus far – will now try to ratchet up the pressure on servicers, especially with 375,000 of these trial modifications set to convert to permanent ones by year's end.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. College students are facing a sea change in borrowing to pay for their degrees unfortunately, many would still be drowning in debt. The change, perhaps as soon as July, would end the Federal Family Education Loan program that has dominated the federal student loan pool for more than 40 years. Banks and other private sources would be cut out of the process by the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, passed in September by the U.S. House. The measure still must be considered by the Senate. Colleges that once kept a long list of lenders are converting...

Banks Get New Rules on Property By LINGLING WEI Federal bank regulators issued guidelines allowing banks to keep loans on their books as "performing" even if the value of the underlying properties have fallen below the loan amount. The volume of troubled commercial real-estate loans is skyrocketing. Regulators said that the rules were designed to encourage banks to restructure problem commercial mortgages with borrowers rather than foreclose on them. But the move has prompted criticism that regulators are simply prolonging the financial crisis by not forcing borrowers and lenders to confront, rather than delay, inevitable problems.

A grim year for small business lending The SBA loan volume plunged 36% in 2009 as banks slammed their vaults shut to small businesses. By Catherine Clifford, CNNMoney.com staff reporter October 1, 2009: 6:02 PM ET NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Here's a telling statistic about the toll the recession is taking on Main Street: This year, the government's top small business lending program got loans to 25,000 fewer entrepreneurs than it did last year. In its 2009 fiscal year, which ended Wednesday, the Small Business Administration backed 44,221 loans from banks to help borrowers start and expand their businesses. That's...

Amherst Sees 7m Foreclosures Poised to Distress House Prices By DIANA GOLOBAY September 24, 2009 10:34 AM CST Advertisements Recent analysis by the Amherst Securities Group indicates the housing industry will not only worsen as a delayed pipeline of foreclosed loans begins to liquidate, but that the Administration’s Making Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) will have no lasting effect on keeping delinquent loans current. The early signs of stabilization seen among housing industry observers may soon recede as an overhang of the shadow inventory of foreclosures waits to enter the market. The general outlook that the housing market has bottomed...

U.S. large-loan bank losses triple to $53 billion Fri Sep 25, 2009 6:05am EDT (Reuters) - U.S. regulators say that the level of losses from syndicated loans facing banks and other financial institutions tripled to $53 billion in 2009, due to poor underwriting standards and the continuing weakness in economic conditions. According to the Shared National Credit Program (SNC) 2009 Review, an annual inter-agency report released on Thursday, credit quality deteriorated to record levels with respect to large loans and loan commitments. The Shared National Credit Program which was set up in 1977 to review large syndicated loans now reviews...

The Treasury Department drove a hard bargain but likely won't recoup taxpayers' entire investments in General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC, said a report from a congressional panel overseeing government bailouts of the banking and auto sectors. The panel, though, commended the Treasury's efforts to function as a tough negotiator for structuring deals to save ailing auto makers. "They may have driven the best bargain they could, but it may not be enough," said Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard University law professor and the panel's chairwoman. The report cited remarks from Obama administration manufacturing adviser Ron Bloom, who previously ran...

A study shows that people who abruptly and intentionally abandon their mortgages often have high credit scores, in stark contrast with most financially distressed borrowers. Who is more likely to walk away from a house and a mortgage -- a person with super-prime credit scores or someone with lower scores? Research using a massive sample of 24 million individual credit files has found that homeowners with high scores when they apply for a loan are 50% more likely to "strategically default" -- abruptly and intentionally pull the plug and abandon the mortgage -- compared with lower-scoring borrowers. National credit bureau...

House Passes Student Loan OverhaulSept. 17, 2009 WASHINGTON (UPI) -- The U.S. House approved legislation that would overhaul the student loan market by setting up the federal government as the lone provider of college loans. The House vote was 253-to-171, largely along party lines, The Wall Street Journal reported. Under the legislation, private lenders would be blocked from the market for originating loans, but private banks and lenders still would be able to bid for a limited number of contracts to service loans after they are made by the government. The bill is another plank of the ambitious domestic agenda...

EVEN as the economy may be starting to recover, banks across the country are confronting a worsening outlook for their construction loans, an area that boomed for much of the decade. Reports filed by banks with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation indicate that at the end of June about one-sixth of all construction loans were in trouble. With more than half a trillion dollars in such loans outstanding, that represents a source of major losses for banks. Construction loans were highly attractive in recent years for many banks, particularly smaller ones without a national presence. One reason was that other...

Freddie Mac Gets Another $6.1B from Gov't BY STEPHEN BERNARD | AP Business Writer You have entered an invalid email address From (email):* Required NEW YORK (AP) - Battered mortgage giant Freddie Mac received $6.1 billion in new funds from the Treasury Department to help offset its mounting liabilities, according to a regulatory filing submitted Wednesday. The company could also be close to naming a new, permanent CEO, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which has been operating Freddie Mac since last fall, requested the funds for Freddie Mac after the mortgage...

Rebuilding the banks May 14th 2009 From The Economist print edition A tamer banking industry is already emerging from the debris of the old, failed one, says Andrew Palmer (interviewed here) BANKING is the industry that failed. Banks are meant to allocate capital to businesses and consumers efficiently; instead, they ladled credit to anyone who wanted it. Banks are supposed to make money by skilfully managing the risk of transforming short-term debt into long-term loans; instead, they were undone by it. They are supposed to expedite the flow of credit through economies; instead, they ended up blocking it. The costs...

Thank you 0'great one for all the help you extended to small businesses! Teleprompter lambasted great days ahead for the small businesses, the backbone of US economy, blah, blah, blah... Finally it is starting to filter down to us in the trenches. The reality is like this: Just received a letter from JP Morgan CHASE himself that my home equity line of credit has been frozen, I can not draw any more funds from it. As of 3/27 (letter mailed on 3/27) no mo' money for the purpose of funding the expansion and employment of staff. Using my own private...

First-time home buyers can take immediate advantage of an $8,000 tax credit for homes purchased this year before Dec. 1, the Internal Revenue Service said Wednesday. Buyers can take the credit on either their 2008 or 2009 taxes. Forms are available on the IRS website or through IRS offices. The tax credit is available to first-time buyers with incomes under $75,000 for singles or $150,000 for couples. It covers 10% of the purchase price, up to a maximum of $8,000. Unlike last year's tax break, it does not need to be repaid if the buyer remains in the home, "The...

China bank loans double in January By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer (AP:SHANGHAI, China) Chinese banks extended a record 1.62 trillion yuan ($237 billion) in loans in January, more than double the year before, as lenders heeded government calls to loosen credit controls to help revive the economy. Total bank loans rose by 814.1 billion yuan ($119 billion), nearly 104 percent over lending in January 2008, when the government was still imposing stringent curbs on credit as it battled inflation, the People's Bank of China reported Thursday. Facing an abrupt slowdown due to plunging demand for China's exports, regulators have...

The Obama administration is hammering out a program to subsidize mortgage payments for troubled homeowners who have gone through a standardized re-appraisal and affordability test, sources familiar with the plan said on Thursday. The program would be a major break from existing aid programs, which are triggered once homeowners fall into arrears. Under the plan being contemplated, mortgage companies would use a uniform eligibility test even before a borrower becomes delinquent, sources said. The administration hopes the mortgage industry will soon agree to a set of standards that will allow it to move quickly to modify many home loans. Sources...

With pressure growing on him to act, U.S. Sen Christopher Dodd Monday morning allowed reporters to view all of the loan documents and communication he and his wife had when negotiating mortgages with Countrywide Financial Corp. ... "I regret I did not do this sooner and I apologize to the people of Connecticut for the delay,'' said Dodd, who was joined by his wife Jackie Clegg Dodd in a sometimes tense meeting with reporters at his Hartford offices.

$1.1 T Potential Loan Losses Plus $700bn Securities Writedowns: How Sound Is the U.S. Banking Sector? Jan 20 Roubini/Parisi: Assuming a further 20% fall in house prices and unemployment peaking at 9%, we project total loan losses to amount to $1.6T out of $12.4T loans outstadning. Of these $1.6T loan losses, about $1.1T accrue to U.S. banks and brokers.Mark-to-market prices as of December imply around $2T in writedowns on 10.8T securities outstanding. Flow of funds data show that 40% of U.S. originated securities are held abroad. U.S. banks' share of writedowns is about 30-35%, or 600-700bn according to weights...

The Treasury Department said today it was lending $1.5 billion to Chrysler Financial, the company responsible for making loans to buy Chrysler vehicles, as part of the government's continuing effort to jump-start the troubled auto loan market. The Treasury agreed to provide the five-year loans in exchange for a modest interest rate (currently 1.36 percent) and restrictions on executive compensation. The deal is backed by loans Chrysler Financial makes and requires the firm to slash its bonus pool for senior executives by 40 percent. The loans, which will come out of the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program, follow $17...

I have a home with a 30 year loan, I owe about 93k on it. At the current rate I'm paying it, I'll have it paid off in slightly over 12 years. My current rate is 5.75. I called about a refinance. 4.875 with $2300 in closing costs. This would drop my payment about $150/month. So, if I kept paying at the same payment I pay now, I'd pay the new loan off in slightly less than 12 years and save about $8k in interest payments over the life of the loan. I don't plan on moving. I'm 51. I...

Antoin "Tony" Rezko leaves federal court in Chicago in this Oct. 19, 2006, file photo. Mr. Rezko spent years pouring thousands of dollars in campaign contributions into Barack Obama's climb from the Illinois legislature to Capitol Hill, and helped him raise tens of thousands more. A former Illinois bank official, now claiming whistleblower status, says bank officials replaced a loan reappraisal that he prepared for a Chicago property that was purchased by the wife of now-convicted felon Tony Rezko, part of which was later sold to next-door neighbor Barack Obama. In a complaint filed Thursday in the Circuit Court of...

Dear Mr. Paulson: This will acknowledge receipt of your application on behalf of your firm, “United States Treasury,” for credit in the amount of $24,000 from me, and another $24,000 from my wife, and another $24,000 from each of our five children. That comes to $168,000, which is a considerable amount of money for a family to lend. So please forgive me if I ask that you provide some supporting information and documentation. 1. Does “United States Treasury” owe any previously-incurred debts? If so, in what amount(s)? If the total amount exceeds $10,000,000,000,000.00, please attach detailed, written explanation. . ....

Should you keep paying your mortgage? If you have significant equity in your home, absolutely. If you don't, it's getting harder to answer that question, especially when our government keeps giving people who owe more than their homes are worth so many reasons not to pay. Last week, the government announced a program that will substantially lower payments for many homeowners who have little or no equity, but only if they are at least 90 days delinquent. Critics say the plan, which applies to loans owned or guaranteed by government wards Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac among others, could encourage...

WASHINGTON, Nov 14 (Reuters)...Asked at a briefing why automakers were not being considered for aid under the $700 billion bailout program for the financial industry, Perino said the White House was working to accelerate funding via a program approved specifically for the auto industry...

Payday lender and pawn shop operator Cash America International Inc. said Wednesday it will to close about one-third of its Ohio lending locations in the next few months, after voters in the state chose to maintain new payday loan restrictions. Voters Tuesday approved a new payday lending law that cuts the annual percentage rate that lenders can charge to 28 percent and limits the number of loans customers can take out to four per year. It is among the strictest laws in the country. Its backers say cash advances are defective products that trap borrowers into a cycle of debt....

Detroit’s Big Three were on Capitol Hill yesterday looking for a bigger bailout. They knew the results numbers coming out this morning would be grim and would offer little cheer for the future. The $700 billion in financial industry aid that motored through Congress last month must have flashed a big green light for the auto industry. Originally, $25 billion in loan guarantees were offered to help U.S. cars get greener. But the car companies say the restrictions on how they can use that money make it less than helpful. In fact, GM and Chrysler might not even pass a...

Does anyone know of any links to reputable micro-loan websites? I am biting the business bullet and determined to raise funds to begin my foray into the world of creating and owning my own small business.

The only people who pay taxes in this country are consumers who make purchases or pay rent from their own income. Those taxes are paid at the point of purchase and at the time of purchase. Since the middle class comprises the largest group of consumers, they pay the greatest share of taxes regardless of the illusion created by a progressive tax scheme. The wealthy pay more taxes only to the extent that they may consume more. The truth of these statements will become self-evident with a few simple illustrations. That box of corn flakes on your kitchen tables contains...

Not that long ago, a dollar was worth a half-gallon of gasoline. Just a few days ago, a dollar was worth a little less than one-quarter-gallon of gasoline. When the value of the dollar is expressed this way, the question is did the gasoline become more expensive or did the dollar become worth less? The dollar is a commodity that is bought and sold, borrowed and loaned and not exempt from economic laws. When the government tampers with the value of the money supply and the value of gasoline, we end up with high energy costs that send a shock...

Countrywide Financial Corp., the biggest U.S. mortgage lender, made large, previously undisclosed home loans to two additional executives of Fannie Mae, the government-chartered firm at the center of the U.S. credit crisis. One of Countrywide's previously undisclosed customers at Fannie was Jamie Gorelick, an influential Democratic Party figure whose $960,000 mortgage refinancing in 2003 was handled through a program reserved for influential figures and friends of Countrywide's chief executive at the time, Angelo Mozilo. Ms. Gorelick was Fannie Mae's vice chairman at the time. [Former Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick, listening to testimony on Capitol Hill in April, got a...

Fed to give AIG $85 billion loan and take 80% stake By Michael J. De La Merced and Eric Dash Wednesday, September 17, 2008 In an extraordinary turn, the Federal Reserve agreed Tuesday night to take a nearly 80 percent stake in the troubled giant insurance company, the American International Group, in exchange for an $85 billion loan. The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase had been trying to arrange a $75 billion loan for the company to stave off the financial crisis caused by complex debt securities and credit default swaps. The Federal Reserve stepped in after...

In an extraordinary turn, the Federal Reserve agreed Tuesday night to take a nearly 80 percent stake in the troubled giant insurance company, the American International Group, in exchange for an $85 billion loan. The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase had been trying to arrange a $75 billion loan for the company to stave off the financial crisis caused by complex debt securities and credit default swaps. The Federal Reserve stepped in after it became clear Tuesday afternoon that the banking consortium would not be able to complete the deal. Without the help, AIG was expected to...

Cuba Says Can't Pay For Japan Imports On Time : Nikkei V. Phani Kumar HONG KONG -- The Central Bank of Cuba informed Japan's Nippon Export and Investment Insurance that it couldn't pay for Japanese imports by the agreed upon dates, the Nikkei business daily reported Monday. "This isn't a problem specific to this bank. Foreign exchange reserves for settling trade accounts are in short supply in Cuba," said an offical at the Cuban central bank, according to the report.

Richard Dreyfuss sues father, uncle over loan 1 day ago LOS ANGELES (AP) — Richard Dreyfuss is suing his father and uncle over an $870,000 loan he claims was never repaid. The lawsuit centers around a loan Dreyfuss claims he made to his relatives in 1984, who owned an interest in a downtown Los Angeles office building. Roughly 24 years later, Dreyfuss says that loan — and interest — remains unpaid.

How did the U.S. financial crisis happen? A review of the road to ruin reveals a course littered with more villains than heroes. No, it’s not the Great Depression, but the United States is facing a nasty economy-wide retrenchment following the excesses of the 2000s, with no easy way to dance through it. Think 1979 to 1982, when then U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker exorcised consumer price inflation from the economy. The difference today is that the inflationary explosion has been absorbed by prices of assets—houses, stocks and bonds, office buildings—rather than by the prices of things you buy...

Obama received $71,000 in campaign cash in 2004 from a lender in Illinois, who then in February 2005 gave him a below-market mortgage rate personally saving him nearly $4,000.00 per year. Perhaps just a whiff of corruption from the Chicago Kid?

A lawsuit filed by a Wisconsin couple against their mortgage lender could have major implications for banks should a U.S. appeals court agree that borrowers can cancel their loans en masse when their lenders violate a federal lending disclosure law. The case began like hundreds of others filed since the U.S. housing boom spawned a rise in sales of adjustable rate loans. Susan and Bryan Andrews of Cedarburg, Wisconsin, claimed that lender Chevy Chase Bank FSB (CCX_pc.N: Quote, Profile, Research) had hidden the true terms of what they believed was a good deal on a low-interest loan. In their 2005...

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said on Thursday that it has extended a $28.82 billion loan to JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) for the acquisition of Bear Stearns. "Total credit extended by the New York Fed is lower than originally anticipated as a result of an extensive review of the portfolio," the New York Fed said in a statement on its Web site. In addition, JPMorgan has extended a $1.15 billion loan to a Delaware limited liability company (LLC), the statement said. The LLC, which will be consolidated on the books of the New York...

I just found this website: http://www.kiva.org/ The company screens entrepreneurs in developing areas who are looking for microloans, then posts their loan applications online. Anyone who wants to can lend them money in increment as small as $25. For instance, if a potato farmer in Peru loses their seed crop to blight, they can apply for the loan needed to buy new seed to restart their farm. Microloans have gotten a lot of attention from lending institutions because, even though it involves lending to people who seem high-risk, the default rates have turned out to be very low. Kiva's default...

Dodd Defends His Own Mortgage DealsBy JESSE A. HAMILTON | Washington Bureau Chief June 14, 2008 WASHINGTON — - Sen. Christopher Dodd says there was nothing special about the 2003 mortgages on his two homes, and that he requested no preferential treatment from his lender. But it might take more than a short denial to get past this week's reports that he was one of several prominent politicians given deals by Countrywide Financial Corp. on their home loans. "As a United States senator, I would never ask or expect to be treated differently than anyone else refinancing their home," Dodd...

The housing downturn continues to crush Florida bankers: Overdue loans, mostly real estate related, have nearly quadrupled the past year in the Sunshine State. If that were not enough, the state's lenders have unusually low cash reserves to protect against mortgage defaults. And 41 percent of Florida-chartered banks were unprofitable the first three months of this year. That's twice the number of banks that bled red ink last year. These not-so-encouraging trends emerged from reports released the past week by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Experts blame a chain reaction ignited by a two-year plunge in real estate values. It's...

Development campaigners have accused the UK government of making a stealth cut to an £800m fund designed to help poor countries adapt to climate change.

HARRISBURG -- With a section of a Pittsburgh bridge dropping 8 inches and an Interstate 95 support pillar cracking in Philadelphia, Gov. Ed Rendell is turning up the heat under the Legislature to provide infrastructure repair funds more quickly. Mr. Rendell sent a letter to all 253 legislators yesterday urging quick passage of a $240 million "supplemental debt authorization." His program of borrowing would enable state officials to fast-track repairs on some of the state's 6,000 bridges classified as structurally deficient, along with fixing ailing highways, repairing "state-owned, high-hazard dams" and beginning flood mitigation projects. Also yesterday, Mr. Rendell called...

QUESTION for freeper lawyers & paralegals & wannabees: If loan paperwork does not specifically state that a loan company can sell a loan, what legal basis could they have to sell it? What legal basis can another loan company buy it? For example: If a loan is defaulted, the loan company eventually files bankruptcy, zeroes the loan, and reports it as zeroed on the credit report, what legal basis could they have for subsequently selling the loan, especially if the loan docs do not state that power? Loan docs do state that whoever they transfer the loan to inherits all...

The impact of the U.S. mortgage market crisis on the underlying economy could be "dramatic" as leveraged investors may need to scale back lending by up to $2 trillion, according to investment bank Goldman Sachs. AP -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In a report dated Nov. 15, Goldman's Goldman Sachs Group IncGS 227.02 UNCH 0% NYSE Quote | Chart | News | Profile | Add to Watchlist [GS 227.02 --- UNCH (0%) ] chief U.S. economist Jan Hatzius said a "back-of-the-envelope" estimate of credit losses on outstanding mortgages, based on past default experience, was around $400 billion. But unlike stock market losses, which are...

Experts: Freeze on home-loan interest no cure-allBy ALAN ZIBEL Associated Press Dec. 2, 2007, 3:17PM WASHINGTON — If lenders temporarily freeze low introductory interest rates on home loans made to risky borrowers before they soar, it would be a modest fix for the country's fractured housing market. The problems are so far-reaching, analysts say, that an emerging Bush administration-backed plan — nicknamed "teaser-freezer" by one economist — won't spare many borrowers, or bankers, from the pain of escalating foreclosures and defaults. Edward Yardeni, an economist who runs Yardeni Research in Great Neck, N.Y., called the plan "better than doing nothing,"...

Foreclosure wave sweeps US On 31 August, President George W Bush appeared in the White House Rose Garden to urge action to deal with a serious crisis in the US economy. He was flanked by two of the most powerful players in the global economy: US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke The sub-prime crisis - which is threatening millions of families in the US with eviction, has created turmoil in the financial markets, and lead to serious disruption to the US economy and housing market - had moved to the top of the political...

Michael Jackson has defaulted on a $23 million loan and the holder has put him on notice. Jackson has 90 days to pay the full amount — $23 million plus $212,963.83 in interest — or he will lose his Neverland Ranch. The papers were filed in Santa Barbara County on Oct. 22, but apparently Jackson’s loan with Fortress Music Trust, doing business as DBCG LLC, a Delaware corporation, expired on Oct. 12. I told you in this space last week Fortress was trying to sell Jackson’s loans and that a desperate refinancing negotiation was taking place. From the looks of...

They had the car loans -- but not the cars.After a series of raids, prosecutors are set today to charge 11 people with defrauding a bank by obtaining car loans on luxury automobiles owned by other people, sources said.Cook County sheriff's police and other agencies conducted the raids Wednesday morning, hitting locations in south suburban Alsip, Oak Lawn, Palos Hills, Orland Park and Chicago. All of those arrested are of Middle Eastern origin, coming from such countries as Egypt and Jordan, a law enforcement source said.Members of the fraud ring applied for loans at State Farm Bank, an arm of...