Tag Archives: banks

Switzerland Freezes Accounts of Mubarak and His Entourage

Switzerland’s government moved to freeze any assets of Hosni Mubarak, Swiss officials said Friday.

The Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs said it would freeze any assets in the country’s banks that might belong to the former Egyptian president or his family, without specifying how much money was involved or where it was. (more…)

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Some Banks Help Keep Mortgage Holders Out of Default, Studies Find

COLUMBUS, Ohio – While the nation’s foreclosure crisis has focused blame on bad loan practices by some lenders, new research shows how some banks may have actually reduced the default risk of their homebuyers.

Researchers found that low-income homeowners who received a mortgage from a local lender were less likely to default on their loans than are those who borrowed from a more distant bank or mortgage company. (more…)

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Researchers Skeptical About Bank Taxes, Regulations Still Needed

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Taxes on executive bonuses, financial transactions and excess profits are a few of the taxes proposed or enacted to punish banks for their role in the recent financial crisis, but most of these ideas have shortcomings, says a University of Michigan economist.

“A number of potentially complicated and ambitious new taxes on the financial sector are currently being discussed,” said Joel Slemrod, professor of economics and the Paul W. McCracken Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy at Michigan’s Ross School of Business. “While the recent financial crisis shows how important it is to consider whether such instruments might help to improve incentives, reform efforts should not unduly focus on the exotic and new at the expense of the familiar and old. (more…)

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