Category Archives: Treasury

Investor End Games: All Is Not Well in the Garden

Posted on August 29, 2012 by Isaac Gradman

“As long as the roots are not severed, all is well.  And all will be well in the garden.” – Chance the Gardener, Being There (1979) With Judge Barbara Kapnick announcing earlier this month that the approval hearing in Bank … Continue reading →

Posted in AIG, allocation of loss, ASF, Attorneys General, Bank of New York, banks, BlackRock, Bloomberg, BofA, bondholder actions, causes of the crisis, conflicts of interest, consitutionality, contract rights, costs of the crisis, Countrywide, damages, Deutsche Bank, discovery, eminent domain, fiduciary duties, foreclosure crisis, fraud, global settlement, Grais and Ellsworth, impact of the crisis, incentives, investors, irresponsible lending, Judge Barbara Kapnick, Judge Eileen Bransten, junior liens, Kathy Patrick, lawsuits, lenders, lending guidelines, liabilities, LIBOR manipulation, liquidity, litigation, litigation costs, lobbying, MBIA, MBS, misrespresentation, monoline actions, monolines, mortgage fraud, mortgage insurers, mortgage market, negative equity, Neil Barofsky, private label MBS, procedural hurdles, putbacks, recession, rep and warranty, repurchase, Residential Capital, responsibility, restructuring, RMBS, securities, securitization, sellers and sponsors, settlements, standing, statistical sampling, statutes of limitations, successor liability, summary judgment, The Subprime Shakeout, too big to fail, toxic assets, Treasury, Trustees, underwriting guidelines, underwriting practices, US Bank, vicarious liability, waiver of rights to sue, Wall St., Walnut Place, Way Too Big to Fail, Wells Fargo, William Frey | 2 Comments

Way Too Big to Fail Goes to Washington (Book Tour Day 3)

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Isaac Gradman

After a hiatus over the holidays, I return with Part IV of this five-part series on my experiences during a recent book tour to promote the release of Way Too Big to Fail: How Government and Private Industry Can Build … Continue reading →

Posted in Adam Levitin, bailout, balance sheets, banks, BofA, book tour, chain of title, Citigroup, conflicts of interest, Congress, foreclosure crisis, Government bailout, improper documentation, legislation, lobbying, MBS, mortgage market, negligence and recklessness, pooling agreements, regulation, Regulators, RMBS, robo-signers, Senate staffers, Servicer Safe Harbor, Timothy Geithner, too big to fail, Treasury, Way Too Big to Fail, William Frey | Leave a comment

Book Tour Day 1: Pessimism, Hope and Note Cards

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Isaac Gradman

My first day in New York City to promote the release of Way Too Big to Fail was a whirlwind, as expected.  I arrived into JFK at 6:00 AM and headed into Manhattan for my first stop at the Cornell … Continue reading →

Posted in Attorneys General, bailout, Dan Rather, due diligence firms, Government bailout, hedge funds, mortgage market, Neil Barofsky, putbacks, re-underwriting, Regulators, RMBS, securities, securities laws, securitization, TARP, The Subprime Shakeout, Timothy Geithner, too big to fail, Treasury, Wall St., Way Too Big to Fail, William Frey | Leave a comment

RMBS Legal Roundup: The Top Five Developments You Might Have Missed While Obsessing Over the BoNY/BofA Settlement

Posted on August 25, 2011 by Isaac Gradman

With interesting developments occurring almost daily in the proposed Bofa/Countrywide settlement with Bank of New York, it has been hard to focus on anything else.  Indeed, since the last time I posted on the settlement (discussing New York AG Eric … Continue reading →

Posted in AIG, Attorneys General, Bank of New York, banks, BofA, bondholder actions, CDOs, class actions, Complaints, contract rights, costs of the crisis, Credit Unions, damages, Deutsche Bank, Fannie Mae, FHFA, Freddie Mac, global settlement, Goldman Sachs, investigations, investors, JPMorgan, lawsuits, litigation, loss causation, MBS, misrespresentation, mortgage market, motions to dismiss, NCUA, Paulson and Co., private label MBS, probes, procedural hurdles, research, reserve reporting, responsibility, RMBS, SEC, securities fraud, securitization, settlements, sophistication, standing, subpoenas, subprime, too big to fail, Treasury, Trustees, Uncategorized, Wall St. | 2 Comments

Federal Short Sale Programs Will Face Same Shortcoming As Workouts: Too Much Carrot, Not Enough Stick

Posted on May 11, 2010 by Isaac Gradman

With government-backed loan modification programs showing abysmal results, Washington has turned to short sales as the flavor of the week to ameliorate the foreclosure crisis.  Pursuant to the Treasury Department’s Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) initiative, effective April 5, loan … Continue reading →

Posted in allocation of loss, California Lawyer, conflicts of interest, foreclosure rate, HAFA, incentives, loan modifications, servicers, short-selling, Treasury | 1 Comment

Bondholders Considering Plan to Tell Servicers: “You’re Fired!”

Posted on January 6, 2010 by Isaac Gradman

With lawsuits against servicers grinding a slow path through the court system, investors are looking to make an end-run around the intransigent banks who are refusing to service mortgages in accordance with bondholder wishes. Their solution to break through the … Continue reading →

Posted in banks, CalPERS, fiduciary duties, Investor Syndicate, investors, loan modifications, pooling agreements, securities, securitization, servicers, short-selling, toxic assets, Treasury, Trustees | 2 Comments

Treasury Official Speaks Out About Excessive Risk Taking

Posted on October 24, 2009 by Isaac Gradman

At long last, someone in Washington is speaking out about the dangerous precedent set by the government bailouts of major banks. As discussed in this article on the financial regulations website FinReg21, Treasury secretary Michael Barr testified before the House … Continue reading →

Posted in bailout, executive compensation, Fannie Mae, Federal Reserve, Freddie Mac, Government bailout, incentives, Judiciary Committee, Lehman Brothers, Michael Barr, moral hazard, too big to fail, Treasury | Leave a comment

U.S. Regulators Chastise Banks on Loan Modifications; Political Tide May Be Turning on Home Loan Servicers

Posted on August 13, 2009 by Isaac Gradman

Servicers of home loans have thus far enjoyed preferential treatment by regulators in the shakeout from the recent financial crisis, but that may all be changing. On August 13, U.S regulators issued a joint statement to residential mortgage servicers warning … Continue reading →

Posted in banks, Barney Frank (D-MA), Christopher Dodd (D-CT), conflicts of interest, Federal Reserve, Helping Families Save Homes, junior liens, loan modifications, regulation, Treasury | 5 Comments

Wikipedia Subprime Timeline a Comprehensive (and Opinionated) Resource

Posted on October 15, 2008 by Isaac Gradman

I just discovered the Wikipedia Subprime Crisis Impact Timeline that provides a great resource to those trying to understand what this crisis is and how we got here. The timeline spans 40 years from 1968 to the present, including the … Continue reading →

Posted in bailout, banks, Ben Bernanke, causes of the crisis, Fannie Mae, Federal Reserve, Freddie Mac, Hank Paulson, legislation, regulation, securitization, subprime, takeover, timeline, Treasury, Wikipedia | Leave a comment

Desperate to Stem Tide of the Credit Crisis, Fed and Treasury Propose What Could Be Largest Bailout in U.S. History. How Far Will the Fed Go?

Posted on September 19, 2008 by Isaac Gradman

In another desperate move to inject liquidity into the marketplace, the heads of the Fed and the Treasury began discussions with Congress late yesterday on legislation that would allow the Government to purchase hundreds of billions of dollars of depressed … Continue reading →

Posted in acquisitions, AIG, bailout, Bear Stearns, BofA, class actions, Fannie Mae, Federal Reserve, Freddie Mac, Government bailout, JPMorgan, jurisdiction, Merrill Lynch, shareholder lawsuits, TARP, Treasury | Leave a comment