The Washington Independent

Posts Tagged Neil Barofsky

Government Support for Financial System Balloons to $3.7 Trillion

By | 07.21.10 | 10:52 am

This morning, the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, Neil Barofsky, released his latest quarterly report on the state of the Obama administration’s signature effort to calm the financial markets — from banking to credit to housing. In it, he lambastes the Home Affordable More…

Bailout Inspector Blasts Treasury Efforts on Housing

By | 07.21.10 | 8:45 am

Today, Neil Barofsky, the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or SIGTARP — in layman’s terms, the government’s watchdog over the program to stabilize the banking sector and housing market — released a quarterly report on how things are going. TARP programs did well to stabilize More…

Shocker: Voluntary Mortgage Mods Aren’t Working

By | 03.24.10 | 11:16 am

To much fanfare, the Obama administration a year ago launched a $75 billion program designed to prevent foreclosures by providing financial incentives to lenders and servicers who modified mortgages to keep them affordable. The program, the White House said, would reach between 3 and 4 million struggling homeowners. More…

Lobbying Creates Moral Hazards for Banks

By | 03.03.10 | 10:19 am

Since George W. Bush took office, commercial banks have more than doubled their annual federal lobbying budgets, to great effect. In addition to securing a nearly industry-wide bailout in the wake of a financial crisis spurred by their own risky investments, banking lobbyists notched many successes in More…

Swiss Bank Is Only AIG Counterparty to Volunteer Concessions

By | 01.27.10 | 3:21 pm

To what extent were Wall Street’s largest firms willing to sacrifice their own skin to fix the economy they helped topple? Well, not much of one.

During today’s House hearing on AIG’s bailout, a central focus was on why AIG’s counterparties — including giants like Goldman Sachs — were paid More…

Plenty of Fodder for the Warren Panel: TARP Program Marred by Fraud

By | 04.21.09 | 9:36 am

The Troubled Asset Relief Program’s inspector general, Neil Barofsky is out with a scathing report today, contending the program already is marred by tax and securities fraud, insider trading, and other violations. Barofsky has opened 20 separate criminal probes into the alleged violations – and that’s just for starters,  The More…