For the first time since 1992, federal regulators have closed over 100 banks across the United States, a sign that the financial crisis is not yet over for financial institutions that have suffered heavy losses from the weakness of the real estate market. Seven banks were closed just yesterday, which brings this year’s total to 106.
While the situation is far from reaching 1992’s levels of bank closures, which topped 179 as the result of a savings-and-loan crisis, the fact that 106 banks have been closed spells a lot of trouble for the employees of the banks and the communities which …read more

Ken Lewis’ sudden resignation as chief executive of Bank of America left the company’s board of directors, as well as many of its shareholders, scratching their heads over whole will take the reins of the financial giant and when. Now that the company has established a variety of plans, though, a new conflict has arisen among shareholders over whether or not Bank of America’s new leader should be a BofA insider or outsider.
Lewis has spent the last eight years as CEO of the company and forty years with Bank of America in all, but his departure came as an unexpected …read more

Financial giant Goldman Sachs has gotten plenty flak from the public outrage over its role in initiating the financial crisis that has made life difficult for so many Americans. For the most part, Goldman Sachs has taken the criticisms of its greed and recklessness in stride.
However, chief executive Lloyd Bankfein has asserted that Goldman Sachs did not get any special treatment by the government to counter several suggestions that it did.
A variety of Goldman Sachs executives have gone on to hold top-tier positions in the United States government, such as Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, who was once a Goldman CEO. …read more

Following the recent lawsuit filed against BBVA Compass Bank and general concern surrounding deceptive bank practices involving overdraft fees, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has called for tight restrictions on fees charged for overdrawn checking accounts. Separately, many of the nation’s largest banks have already announced their plans to revisit overdraft policies.
However, FDIC Chair Sheila Blair has raised the concern that banks may not be going far enough in their restrictions of these fees. She has called on the Federal Reserve to finalize the rulemaking portion of the overdraft reform, but the Federal Reserve maintains that it is still unsure …read more

Guaranty Financial Group, the parent company of Guaranty Bank, continues to struggle to survive. Last month, Guaranty Financial said that it was unlikely that they could stay in business. Now the company is even less confident.
Considering that 77 banks have already failed, it wouldn’t be too shocking if Guaranty Financial became another victim of the global economic downturn combined with unsafe business decisions based on greed rather than sound judgment. Just last week, federal regulators shut down Colonial BancGroup — a bank with $25 billion in assets.
Guaranty Financial has more than 150 branches in California and Texas. While it is …read more

According to the Congressional Oversight Panel in its monthly report, the TARP fund may need to infuse more capital into regional and other smaller banks in order to deal with troubled loans. The panel recommends that anywhere from $12 billion to $14 billion be siphoned off into smaller banks.
The committee was formed to oversee the Troubled Asset Relief Program, monitoring any changes that lawmakers may need to authorize in order to improve the program. So far, the COP has found that bigger banks have been able to cope well with troubled loans, recommending that the government instead focus on banks …read more

Despite several signs of economic recovery peaking out through the doom and gloom of the recession, the credit market still has a ways to go according to a recent Federal Reserve report. Consumer credit fell $10.3 billion to $2.5 trillion in June, after having fallen by $5.38 billion in May.
The five-month streak of consumer credit loss marks the longest series of declines since 1991. Much of the reason behind the decline involves the slowdown of consumer spending, which has in turn been checked by rising unemployment, falling wages, and sliding home values. Thanks to a startling drop of income in …read more

Two lenders in Florida and one in Oregon have gone under in what has become a gruesome trend for the financial world. The collapses of these three banks mark have propelled the number of bank closures due to the recession to 72, highlighting the devastating impact of the economic crisis.
 
Community National Bank and First State Bank, both of which were based in Sarasota, Florida, and Community First Bank, based in Prineville, Oregon, were shut down by federal regulators in a move that will cost the FDIC $185 million. All in all, the banks were in charge of $769 million worth …read more

With the 53rd U.S. bank failure having happened just a couple of days ago, it is no secret that banks across the country are struggling with loans that cannot be repaid and investments that never pan out. Many banks across the country are trying to make up the difference by raising fees here and there to make up the difference.
 
You may have already noticed that ATM fees are up, especially those that banks charge you if you use try to withdraw money from a different bank than the one that owns the ATM machine. Overdraft fees have also gone up …read more

On Wednesday, the government tapped nine financial firms to run toxic asset programs. The firms were selected from a pool of over 100 applicants. They will have 12 weeks to raise $500 million each. The investments will be matched by the Treasury Department and further supplemented from debt financing. The financial firms chosen to take part in this scaled down program aimed at helping banks include:

BlackRock (BLK, Fortune 500)
AllianceBernstein (AB)
Oaktree Capital Management
Invesco (IVZ)
Angelo, Gordon & Co.
Marathon Asset Management
RLJ Western Asset Management
The TCW Group
Wellington Management Company

CNNMoney’s David Ellis says:
Under the program, the government will run auctions between the banks selling assets …read more