Top Interest Rate Headlines 03-21-11: U.S. Treasury To Sell Toxic Assets

U.S. Treasury to sell toxic assets
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, The Globe And Mail
The Treasury Department announced Monday that it will begin selling its remaining $142-billion in holdings of mortgage-backed securities purchased during the financial crisis.
http://jlne.ws/hPPe5K

Midwest Economy: Interpreting the Midwest Economy Index
By Scott Brave, Senior Business Economist Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
On March 31, 2011, the Chicago Fed will begin releasing on a monthly basis an index designed to measure growth in nonfarm business activity in the Seventh Federal Reserve District states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, and Wisconsin. This monthly index, called the Midwest Economy Index (MEI), will serve as a regional counterpart to the Chicago Fed’s National Activity Index (CFNAI), available here, and allow for a comparison of national and regional growth trends.
http://jlne.ws/gMMUX0

E.U. Finance Ministers Set Terms for New Bailout Fund
By STEPHEN CASTLE, the New York Times
European finance ministers agreed Monday on how to increase the lending power of a future bailout fund for debt-strapped nations that use the euro.
http://jlne.ws/hJPRNo

Fed to release data on crisis loans to Wall Street banks
By Jennifer Liberto, CNNMoney
The Federal Reserve Board will release data on emergency loans made to Wall Street banks and others during the height of the financial crisis, after the Supreme Court refused Monday to side with banks who want the details kept secret.
http://jlne.ws/hd1kkp

NYSE Euronext Puts First U.S. Rate-Futures Trades On The Books
By Jacob Bunge, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
A new front in the battle for the biggest U.S. futures market was joined late Sunday as NYSE Euronext (NYX) recorded the first transactions on a new platform designed to compete with sector heavyweight CME Group Inc. (CME).
http://jlne.ws/gyZnww

Lehman sues Citibank to recover over US$1.3bil
NEW YORK: The trustee overseeing the liquidation of Lehman Brothers Holdings' broker-dealer has sued Citibank to recover more than US$1.3bil in cash and other assets.
http://jlne.ws/ePNKhI

Trichet Says Rate Increase 'Possible'
BY NINA KOEPPEN AND BRIAN BLACKSTONE
European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet on Monday signaled the ECB is likely to increase interest rates as soon as next month, saying he has "nothing to add" to the ECB's policy statement on March 3, when the central bank warned that "strong vigilance" was needed on inflation.
http://jlne.ws/fdmJYr

Why Is the Fed Letting Big Banks Boost Dividends?
By ABIGAIL FIELD
The news hit Friday that the Federal Reserve is allowing big banks to pay sharply higher dividends. I don't understand how the Fed justified that decision. And not just because the results of the so-called "stress tests" are secret.
http://jlne.ws/g2Ios1

New York Fed Launches "Liberty Street Economics" Research Blog
Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Press Release
NEW YORK – The Federal Reserve Bank of New York today launched Liberty Street Economics, a new research blog that offers commentary on current economic topics, including macroeconomic developments, financial markets and trends in the Second Federal Reserve District. Liberty Street Economics is a platform for members of the New York Fed’s Research and Statistics Group to share their individual analysis and insight on current issues and to engage in a direct dialogue with a broad online audience.
http://jlne.ws/hlbm8u

US house prices fall to lowest level for nine years
BBC News
A report on US house sales has said that prices fell by 5.2% in February to their lowest in almost nine years.
http://jlne.ws/fkBdCy

ECB’s Trichet sticks with inflation warning
The Globe And Mail
European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet is sticking with his stern inflation warnings that indicate an interest rate increase could come as early as next month — despite the market turmoil triggered by Japan's disasters.
http://jlne.ws/gtw2p7

Analysis: CFTC prescribing the wrong medicine
By Ann Saphir and Jonathan Spicer - Reuters
BOCA RATON, Florida (Reuters) - Top futures regulator Gary Gensler is acting a bit too much like his counterpart Mary Schapiro at the Securities and Exchange Commission -- and it's making people nervous.
http://jlne.ws/hA6qbw

NYSE Euronext Puts First US Rate-Futures Trades On The Books
By Jacob Bunge, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
A new front in the battle for the biggest U.S. futures market was joined late Sunday as NYSE Euronext (NYX) recorded the first transactions on a new platform designed to compete with sector heavyweight CME Group Inc. (CME).
http://jlne.ws/dS1Xxd

Too-Big-to-Fail Banks in U.S. Grew After Crisis, Study Shows
By Cady North - Bloomberg
The largest U.S. banks have grown larger since the financial crisis, and the number of “too-big-to- fail” banks will increase by 40 percent over the next 15 years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Dodd-Frank law, which requires more oversight of too- big-to-fail firms, would prohibit the largest banks from merging with one another, an unprecedented power granted to regulators.
http://jlne.ws/i7ucky

US banks face fresh scrutiny on lending
By Helen Thomas in New York - Financial Times
US banks could be forced to disclose when they give clients below-market rates on loans as a part of their efforts to secure further business, under rules being considered by accounting regulators.
http://jlne.ws/h2Pc59

Fed Must Release Loan Data as High Court Rejects Appeal
By Greg Stohr and Bob Ivry - Bloomberg
The Federal Reserve must disclose details of emergency loans it made to banks in 2008, after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an industry appeal that aimed to shield the records from public view.
http://jlne.ws/gQ6cZY

Goldman Sachs to Redeem Preferred Stock Issued to Berkshire Hathaway
Press Release
New York, March 18, 2011 -- The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) today announced that the Federal Reserve has concluded that it has no objection to Goldman Sachs’ proposed 2011 capital actions, which include the redemption in full of the 50,000 shares of the Company’s 10% Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series G (Preferred Shares) held by Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and certain of its subsidiaries (collectively, Berkshire Hathaway), the repurchase of outstanding common stock and a potential increase in our quarterly common stock dividend.
http://jlne.ws/fIOgtK

No Goldman smoking gun to hit Draghi's ECB hopes
GMA News
ROME/LONDON - Critics of Mario Draghi may have few arguments to block his chances of becoming Europe's top central banker other than just mentioning the fact that he worked at Goldman Sachs for a number of years.
http://jlne.ws/e6dBfY

RBS profits propped up by US investment banking arm
eFinancial News
Royal Bank of Scotland, the UK bank that is majority-owned by taxpayers, relied on a mortgage-trading unit in the US for nearly half of the profits made by its global banking and markets division last year, according to figures released by the bank.
http://jlne.ws/fQcymk

HSBC Was Told About Madoff 'Fraud Risks' in Two KPMG Reports
BusinessWeek
HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe's biggest lender, was warned twice by auditors that entrusting as much as $8 billion in client funds to Bernard Madoff opened it up to "fraud and operational risks."
http://jlne.ws/gJG0iH

Paulson & Co. fund hit by quake-fueled market drop
Market Watch
A fund run by Paulson & Co., the third-largest U.S. hedge fund firm, was hit by the big market selloff this week in the wake of Japan's earthquake. Paulson has run funds on Societe Generale's Lyxor managed-account platform for many years. One of those vehicles, known as Paulson Advantage Fund Limited, was down 6.14% this month, as of March 15, according to a Lyxor ...
http://jlne.ws/hnyxhK