October172011
Spokespersons for Bank of America and Brookfield declined
to comment.Bank of America, which agreed to to buy Merrill at the
height of the financial crisis in 2008, has been reducing its
space in the building. The Charlotte, North Carolina, bank has
a tower in Midtown Manhattan that officially opened last year.The sale is the latest move by Bank of America to shed
assets as it looks to build capital to meet new international
standards and to cover mortgage losses.
2PM
Okay, listen up, troops! I’ve got your duty assignments for the anti-Gaddafi army!
Smith, you’re riding in a tank. Jones, you’re a bombardier. Williams, you fire rocket-propelled grenades and blow up big stuff all day long. Johnson, you’re on Bike Patrol. Williams, you’re…
Um, excuse me, Sarge?
What is it, Johnson?
Well, you know, I mean it doesn’t sound very cool to just ride a bike.
Really, Johnson? But it’s a ten-speed two-wheeler, very shiny, and you get to shoot your AK-47 from the handlebars.
Yeah, but it sounds kind of dangerous, what with all the heavy weaponry around.
I mean, I’ll be pedaling along the front lines at 15 miles an hour. How fast can those artillery shells travel?
I think they go a little faster than that, Johnson. You’d better try to pedal harder…
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An anti-Gaddafi fighter rides on a bicycle as he heads to the frontline in the center of Sirte October 12, 2011.
More stuff from Oddly Enough
October132011
By Dave ClarkeWASHINGTON, Oct 13 (Reuters) - The new U.S. Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau said on Thursday it will make
oversight of the mortgage servicing industry a top priority as
it ramps up its oversight of banks.Numerous state and government agencies are examining bank
foreclosure practices and whether the proper legal steps are
being taken by servicers, who collect and manage loan payments,
when a borrower becomes delinquent on a loan.”We are going to take a close and measured view to ensure
that servicers and financial institutions are in compliance
with the federal consumer financial laws,” Raj Date, the
Treasury official leading the bureau, said in a conference call
with reporters.The scrutiny being put on banks’ from several agencies
could lead to penalties or settlement figures in the billions.A senior CFPB official told reporters on the conference
call the agency has a wide range of actions it can take,
including imposing fines, depending on what problems it finds
during examinations.The bureau made the announcement about its servicing focus
as it released a broader guide detailing how it will routinely
supervise banks and the financial products they provide, such
as credit cards and mortgages.The agency will initially focus its supervision efforts on
the 105 banks, thrifts and credit unions that have more than
$10 billion in assets.With regard to mortgage servicing, the agency said that it
will first look at home loans in default to make sure the
proper information about loan modification programs and the
foreclosure process is being provided to borrowers.Among the areas it will scrutinize is whether a borrower
being moved through the foreclosure process is being charged
duplicative or illegal fees.Date said the servicing industry is particularly
susceptible to consumer abuses because borrowers can not choose
who collects their payments and because servicers do not get
paid more to handle foreclosures, which are more time consuming
and complicated.”Given those structural problems, it’s no surprise that the
mortgage servicing market has been plagued by pervasive and
profound consumer protection issues,” Date said.The bureau was created as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank
financial oversight law and it officially opened its doors for
business on July 21.ONGOING PROBESThe servicing issue burst into public view last year when
government agencies began investigating bank mortgage
practices, including the use of “robo-signers” to sign hundreds
of unread foreclosure documents a day.States and the Justice Department are currently trying to
negotiate a settlement with Bank of America Corp ,
JPMorgan Chase & Co , Citigroup Inc , Wells Fargo &
Co and Ally Financial.JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said on Thursday during an
earnings conference call that these talks are getting “bogged
down.”In April, banks entered into a settlement with the Federal
Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the
now defunct Office of Thrift Supervision on steps that have to
be taken, such as providing borrowers with a single point of
contact for questions.Banking regulators have said they anticipate a monetary
penalty to be issued later, the size of which will depend on
the problems turned up by investigations, currently being
conducted, into foreclosures initiated in 2009 and 2010.
October122011
Oct 12 (Reuters) - MetLife Inc , the largest U.S.
life insurance company, said on Wednesday it might sell its
traditional mortgage lending business.Dealing with the changing mortgage lending market will
divert too many resources from MetLife’s insurance businesses,
the company said.MetLife has also said it might sell its depository business
and de-register as a bank holding company.MetLife Home Loans will continue to make traditional
mortgages while the insurer decides whether to sell the
business. The company said it will continue to service its
mortgage clients.MetLife Home Loans, a division of MetLife Bank, began
making traditional mortgages and reverse mortgages in 2008.A MetLife spokesman said it would continue to offer reverse
mortgages, a business many other financial companies are
exiting. He added that MetLife is “continuously evaluat(ing)
all of our businesses based on market conditions and the
regulatory environment.”Regulatory issues are becoming more prominent for MetLife
given its potential for being tagged a “systemically important
financial institution” by the Financial Stability Oversight
Council.Many analysts think it is inevitable the company will be
tagged, which will bring Federal Reserve oversight and stricter
controls over risk and capital.
October112011
Last month, the league had said the team’s lawyers — Dewey
& LeBoeuf LLP and Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor LLP — were
putting the interest of the owner, Frank McCourt, ahead of the
baseball team they represent and should be disqualified.Joseph Farnan, a retired federal judge, was appointed
mediator last week to try to settle the battle for control of
the league against team owner Frank McCourt.In response to the league withdrawing its motion, Dodgers
said the withdrawal was “appropriate” and “ends an unnecessary
attempt by MLB to divert the focus in these bankruptcy
proceedings from maximizing the value of its estate.”In a separate filing on Tuesday, Fox Sports, a division of
News Corp , objected to the proposed auction of the
right to broadcast Dodgers’ games, in a bid to bring in billions
of dollars.In September, the Dodgers proposed an auction of the rights
to broadcast its games. The auction is expected to bring in
billions of dollars to stabilize the team’s long-term finances
and allow it to emerge from bankruptcy.Last month, Fox had sued the team to stop the proposed sale
of television rights and had said any steps taken by the team to
sell media rights would be in violation of its current broadcast
agreement with Fox.In order to conduct the auction, the team had to break its
current broadcast agreement with Fox, which grants Fox exclusive
negotiating rights till November 2012.The team filed for bankruptcy in June after Major League
Baseball’s commissioner, Bud Selig, rejected a proposed $3
billion, 17-year media rights deal with Fox.The case is In re: Los Angeles Dodgers LLC, U.S. Bankruptcy
Court, District of Delaware, No. 11-12010.
