Which banks took bailouts

The first major intervention occurred during the Panic of when Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton authorized purchases to prevent the collapse of the securities market. When private enterprises are in need of rescue, the government is often ready to prevent their ruin. In this article, we look at six instances over the past century that have necessitated government intervention:.

The Great Depression is the name given to the prolonged economic decline and stagnation precipitated by the stock market crash of Following the election of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in , the government enacted a number of precedent-setting rescue programs designed to provide relief to the nation's people and businesses.

Countless Americans who lost their jobs also lost their homes. The homeless population grew, especially in urban areas. To keep people in their homes, the government created the Home Owners' Loan Corporation, which bought defaulted mortgages from banks and refinanced them at lower rates.

The program helped one million families benefit from lower rates on refinanced mortgages. Because there was no secondary market , the government held the mortgages until they were paid off. The government created a number of other programs to help the nation weather the Great Depression. While these initiatives were not bailouts, strictly speaking, they provided money and support to create tens of thousands of new jobs, principally in public works.

Some of these projects included:. Armed with a steady income, millions of re-employed workers began purchasing again and the economy recovered slowly. When the U. Many were insolvent by the early s, but customers kept banking with them because they knew their deposits were insured. In addition, regulators allowed zombie banks to continue operating in hopes they would eventually return to profitability. Loan defaults ran into the billions, and billions more were spent to cover federally insured deposits.

Congress took several measures to address the crisis, such as passing the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of and creating the Resolution Trust Corporation to sell off assets. The Financial Crisis resulted in an unprecedented federal intervention to rescue banks and restore confidence to the finance sector.

The chief culprit in the crisis was the implosion of mortgage-backed securities MBS and the collapse of the housing market that threatened many companies with insolvency. In the early days of the crisis, no one knew which companies were holding toxic assets and who would be next to falter. Lack of trust spread, with market participants unwilling to take on counterparty risk. As a result, companies were prevented from accessing credit to meet their liquidity needs.

The Treasury Department later sold those shares back for a profit. The implosion of the housing market also brought trouble to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two government-sponsored enterprises charged with promoting homeownership by providing liquidity to the housing market.

Fannie and Freddie play a vital role in the housing market by purchasing mortgages from lenders and guaranteeing loans. Portland Ore. Memphis Tenn. McLean Va. Seattle Wash. Milwaukee Wis. San Jose Calif. Chula Vista Calif. Davenport Fla.

Louisville Ky. Annapolis Md. Sioux Falls S. Bluefield Va. Tacoma Wash. Fernandina Beach Fla. Port St. Lucie Fla. Blairsville Ga. Itasca Ill. Somerville Mass. Bethesda Md. Olney Md. Bowie Md. Poplar Bluff Mo. Clinton N. Jericho N. Stillwater Okla. Greenville S. Charleston S. Wheeling W. Little Rock Ariz. Litchfield Conn. Wilmington Del. Andover Mass. Flint Mich. Ionia Mich. Raliegh N. Gastonia N. Lititz Pa. Boyertown Pa. Pittsburgh Pa. Nashville Tenn.

Roanoke Va. Mobile Ala. Denver Colo. Columbus Ga. Bridgeview Ill. Pittsfield Mass. Dundalk Md. Louis Mo. Lee's Summit Mo. Peterborough N. Millersburg Pa. Wyomissing Pa. Providence R. Pleasant S. Franklin Tenn. Chesapeake Va.

Emlenton Pa. Greeneville Tenn. Elkton Md. Warsaw N. Atmore Ala. Muncie Ind. Rochester Minn. Newton N. Hoquiam Wash. Monmouth Ill. Arlington Mass. Green Bay Wis. Palm Desert Calif. Rockville Md. Oak Ridge Tenn. Clayton Mo. The answer was that they were too big to fail and allowing them to fail could have created a worldwide depression. In fact, in a meeting with Congress on September 18th, The deregulation of interest rates at conventional banks also led to elimination of bank net-worth, accounting standards, and loan to value ratio requirements.

By using derivatives, credit default swaps and other unregulated financial instruments the big banks were able to chop up and resell loans and mortgages as repackaged securities or derivatives. The new securitization became globalized and eventually affected the world economy. The new financial tools were backed by the government so that taxpayers would get hung with the bill. The industry is not afraid to do it again because they know no one goes to jail and the government will bail them out.

We were told that the taxpayer was stepping in — only temporarily, mind you — to prop up the economy and save the world from financial catastrophe.

What we actually ended up doing was the exact opposite: committing American taxpayers to permanent, blind support of an ungovernable, unregulatable, hyper concentrated new financial system that exacerbates the greed and inequality that caused the crash, and forces Wall Street banks like Goldman Sachs and Citigroup to increase risk rather than reduce it.

After the audit the public found out the bailout was in trillions not billions; and that there were no requirements attached to the bailout money - the banks could use it for any purpose. During the bailout the government also allowed many of the banks to use the bailout money to merge - Chase and Bear Stearns, Wells Fargo and Wachovia, Bank of America with Merrill Lynch. So the result is that they are much bigger today and have become an oligopoly that controls a huge amount of money.

Their favorite tool Derivatives was taken away by the Dodd Frank laws but they cleverly got derivatives back by including them in a bill to fund the government. And derivatives are again backed by the FDIC so the banks are ready to gamble again. Newswire Powered by. Close the menu. Rolling Stone. Log In. To help keep your account secure, please log-in again. You are no longer onsite at your organization.

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