July 20, 2011
Wells Fargo settles mortgage-abuse case for $85M
WASHINGTON (AP) - Wells Fargo & Co. has agreed to pay $85 million to settle civil charges that it falsified loan documents and pushed borrowers toward subprime mortgages with higher interest rates during the housing boom.
The fine is the largest ever imposed by the Federal Reserve in a consumer-enforcement case, the central bank said Wednesday.
Wells Fargo's market cap is $151.80B. Its share price is $28.70. The fine works out to the equivalent of 1.6 cents per share.
That Federal Reserve sure knows how to stop banks from falsifying loan documents and pushing borrowers into subprime mortgages in the future. This is in addition to the great work the Fed has done in stopping this behavior in the first place of course.
How will the executives at Wells Fargo (especially those with stock options) ever recover from this exorbitant penalty?
Meanwhile...
July 7, 2011
Man arrested for 40 bad checks
A Covington County man is being held on 40 counts of negotiating a worthless instrument. Judge Trippy McGuire set a $1 million cash bond.
Investigator Max Smith of the DA’s worthless check unit said 38-year-old Christopher Lewis didn’t discriminate in his distribution of bad checks.
“He slung a bunch out there everywhere,” Smith said. “We had to get him off the street.”
I had a point here but for the life of me I can't remember what it is.
Personally, I think the Federal Reserve was a little harsh on WFC. Wells Fargo didn't have to admit any wrong doing and there will be no criminal prosecutions against any WFC employees.
ReplyDeleteImagine the long lasting guilt that WFC employees will be saddled with for not being able to fully make amends to society. Oh the humanity.
When I think about our system too much, I get queasy. Want to opt out, but can't.
ReplyDeleteWhat mab said X2
ReplyDelete"In Russia, bank robs you!"
ReplyDeleteWait a minute, that catch phrase seems to work over here too.
more like "Bank already robbed you!"
ReplyDeleteThe banks are needed to confine the liquidity of our downward sloping economy. We owe the banks a great debt. Without banks the river of our prosperity would overflow!
ReplyDeleteDam those banks. Dam them.
Know who created the interest only loan? Wells Fargo.
ReplyDeleteYeah, in the early 1900s. It's one of the things that led to the roaring 20s and soon the Great Depression.
Suppose you were an evil genius who wanted to destroy a FIRE economy. How would you go about it?
Well, you light the spark in finance, burn through insurance, and blow up real estate. Rather simple, really.
Know who brought back the interest only loan in the late 90s? Wells Fargo. And look at what happened.
GawainsGhost,
ReplyDeleteIt's all just to make the Wells Fargo Gold Hunt game more exciting! ;)