Articles by Kevin Drawbaugh

White House Calls for ‘Urgency’ on Financial Regulation Reform

The Obama administration’s ambitious plan to overhaul U.S. financial regulation was bogged down in Congress as it returned from a long recess Tuesday. With no clear path forward in the Senate, analysts and lobbyists said Democrats would be hard-pressed to …

Obama to Back Federal Insurance Office, Not Federal Regulator

The Obama administration will call for a new U.S. Treasury Department office on insurance but won’t propose federal regulation of the industry in the sweeping financial reform plan it will unveil Wednesday. The Office of National Insurance, as proposed, would …

Obama Unveils Plan for Financial Regulation Today

President Barack Obama will unveil on Wednesday his plans for reshaping U.S. financial regulation, with proposals to close one bank regulator and create new overseers for big-picture economic risk and consumer financial product safety. In a package of reforms that …

Obama Administration Steps Up Financial Reform Drive

The Obama administration stepped up its push for tougher bank and financial firm rules Thursday, scheduling a briefing for lobbyists, with a focus on insurance oversight, and sending a top regulator to a Senate hearing to discuss plans for regulating …

U.S. Financial Product Safety Commission Proposal Still on Table

The Obama administration is studying a long-discussed proposal to create a U.S. agency that would protect consumers who buy financial products, possibly as part of a major package of reforms, congressional aides said on Tuesday. The proposal, offered as legislation …

AIG Leaders Grilled on Bailout Repay at Congressional Hearing

American International Group Inc. CEO Ed Liddy met some harsh criticism at a congressional hearing on Wednesday as lawmakers demanded answers on the taxpayer bailout of the giant insurer. Rep. Dennis Kucinich wagged his finger at Liddy, who was brought …

World’s Financial Sector Facing ‘Hornet’s Nest’ of Political Risk

Oh, for the days when a little irrational exuberance was the biggest problem facing the world’s bankers and financiers. It is way beyond that now. With the financial world mired in a stubborn credit crisis and the U.S. economy in …

U.S. Lawmaker Urges AIG CEO Liddy to Quit Over Goldman Sachs Stake

A U.S. congressman Thursday expressed concern about a stake in Goldman Sachs Group Inc. held by Edward Liddy, CEO of bailed-out insurer American International Group Inc., and urged him to quit. Liddy owns shares and restricted stock units in Goldman …

US Financial Bailout Watchdog Examining AIG Payments

The in-house watchdog for the U.S. Treasury Department’s massive financial rescue program is examining billions of dollars in counterparty payments made by bailed-out insurer AIG to major banks, such as Goldman Sachs, according to a letter obtained Tuesday. American International …

Obama Plan Would Tighten Regulation of Large Financial Firms

Wall Street faces curbs on risk taking and the prospect of lower profits under sweeping U.S. proposals to prevent a repeat of the credit crisis. The Obama administration’s plan to rewrite financial rules, announced Thursday, would create a single regulator …