More than one out of three Americans have “very little” or “no” confidence in U.S. banks, according to a recent poll from Gallup. Last year, 30 percent of Americans expressed “very little” or “no” confidence in U.S. banks, Gallup said, but this year that number increased to 36 percent – the highest on record. Gallup has been tracking confidence levels since 1979. In 2007, just 14 percent of those polled expressed “very little” or “no” confidence in U.S. banks. In addition, not only did 36 percent choose “very little/none” as their confidence level, but fewer than a quarter of respondents chose “great deal/quite a lot” to signify their confidence level. Just 23 percent of respondents overall expressed a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in U.S. banks in the poll conducted in June 2011. The East region came in with the lowest overall approval in this latest poll, with only 20 percent claiming a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence. Those in the Midwest gave the highest mark, with
The banks hope to recoup $1bn.
THE entire DFO operation of Toorak rich-listers David Goldberger and David Wieland will be sold piece by piece to repay the $1 billion in debt the company owes to the banks.
But insiders say that neither the founders nor any other investors, including Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chief Graeme Samuel, expect to recoup their investments of tens of millions of dollars after the 10 stores are sold.
The Sunday Age believes that the four banks, which have agreed to roll over and extend their funding to allow the Docklands South Wharf development to be completed, are hoping the sale will recoup most or all of the money they are owed.
They have only agreed to extend the finance because a fire sale of the assets all at once would probably reduce the price, forcing them to write down large sums from their accounts.
In a speech given today at the White House, the Obama Administration cracked down on trading activities by banks in an attempt to limit the size and risk taking activity of the countries largest financial institutions.
“The Volcker Rule”
The proposal, which has had strong support from former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, demonstrate a movement towards tightening the definitions of what constitutes a “bank,” and drawing a line between retail and investment banking. While this is not quite the call to reinstate Glas-Steagall that some lawmakers have discussed, it does hint at the fact that the administration no longer will tolerate banks that take unregulated risks with taxpayers money.
“We simply cannot accept a system in which hedge funds or private-equity funds inside banks can place huge risky bets that are subsidized by taxpayers and could pose a conflict of interest,” President Obama said.
No More Too Big to Fail
The main point that Obama seemed to want to leave the American people and financial institutions with after this speech was that the administration would no longer tolerate banks that are able to grow to the point where they hold the American taxpayer hostage. By limiting