banking system

Bank of America (BAC) may introduce a tiered fee structure modeled on mobile phone service contracts. Under the proposed scheme, the bank would reward customers who maintain minimum current account balances, use their credit card a certain number of times each month, or do all their banking...

The banks are hoarding, not lending, the money the government has put into the monetary system to get the economy going again. Why not just bypass the risk-averse old banks and start new banks that have no reason not to lend?

Last Friday, regulators seized nine banks, the most on a single day since the financial crisis began more than two years ago. Sure, it was a sign of just how sick many financial institutions have become, but it wasn't all bad news. That's especially true for U.S. Bancorp (USB), the Minnesota-based...

Bank of America (BA) may have thought it put the thorny issue of bonuses paid to Merrill Lynch executives behind them, but a federal court judge Monday rejected an agreement the bank reached with federal officials over the matter and has ordered a trial. U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff's...

Too big to fail? This isn't a designation that the Obama administration wants to exist any more. New regulations proposed by President Obama would result in "leaner and simpler institutions that don't carry the weight of the system," according to the Associated Press. This designation could impact...

In the years ahead, whenever economic conservatives and market absolutists point out the wonders of the market, just mention a popular four-letter word. Actually, this particular word has only three letters: AIG. And the issue is not the bonus controversy -- far from it. While the public voices...

As positive sentiment continues to build about the U.S. Treasury Department's toxic asset removal program, the latest chatter points to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner now being safe in his job, with this star rising inside the beltway. The general sense is that Geithner was on the edge of...

Given the whirlwind of problems facing the nation, investors can reasonably ask -- at least in terms of the economy, is the Obama administration taking on too much, all at once? If there were normal times, then you'd have to answer yes. However, these are not normal times: the nation and the world...

The Secretary of the Treasury is promising "traction" -- tangible evidence that the financial system is being fixed -- in the weeks and months ahead. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, in an interview Tuesday night with PBS's Charlie Rose, admitted that "expectations got ahead of the policy"...

Ben Bernanke dispelled all doubt about the Fed's policy on banks that are deemed too big too fail. The policy is simple as can be: big banks will not be allowed to fail. "The Federal Reserve, other federal regulators, and the Treasury Department have stated that they they will take any necessary...