Politics Obama wants to slap a 0.15 percent tax on the liabilities of the biggest U.S. financial institutions to recoup the costs to taxpayers of the financial bailout. “We need to impose a fee on the banks that were the biggest beneficiaries of taxpayer assistance at the height of our financial crisis — so we can recover every dime of taxpayer money,” Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address.
Politics In a marathon session of more than 21 hours, legislators agreed to a rewrite of Wall Street rules that may crimp the industry’s profits and subject it to tougher oversight and tighter restrictions. To secure agreement, lawmakers reached deals in the final hours on the most controversial sections which restrict derivatives dealing by banks and curb their proprietary trading to shield taxpayer-backed deposits from more risky activities. Banks will be allowed to keep most swaps dealing activity in-house, although the riskiest trading would be pushed out.
Politics Democrats in charge of the process appear likely to retain tough restrictions on banks’ trading and investment activities that could crimp profits for the foreseeable future. But with a self-imposed deadline of Thursday evening, last-minute dealmaking could lead to exemptions for mutual funds, manufacturers and other business interests
