American Express to receive $3.39bn from US govt

[OhioChick]

Source: Times of India

24 Dec 2008, 0024 hrs IST, AP

NEW YORK: American Express Co. said on Tuesday it received preliminary approval to obtain $3.39 billion in capital as part of the government's $700 billion bank investment program.

Primarily a credit card lender, American Express changed its structure to become a bank holding company last month. The change in status allows American Express to tap a wide array of government funding and lending programs, including the bank investment program.

Other major financial firms have been becoming bank holding companies to access federal lending programs, such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley and CIT Group Inc.

CIT, a New York-based commercial finance firm, had its status change approved on Monday, and received preliminary approval to obtain $2.33 billion as part of the investment program earlier on Tuesday.

The government investment, administered by the US Treasury Department, is part of a broader program to invest in banks amid the ongoing credit crisis. It's an effort to stabilize the financial services sector and spur lending between banks and to consumers and businesses.


Read more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/American_Express_to_receive_339bn_from_US_govt/articleshow/3882668.cms?TOI_latestnews

[CatholicEdHead]

1. Status changed in the last month to be a pig at the trough

[DixieBlue]

4. Yup yup.

I would type "sooo-eeee" but was unsure as to how to spell it.

[dipsydoodle]

2. I thought it was supposed to be meek

who'll inherit the earth. Is meek ancient Hebrew for a bank ?

[Acadia Blue]

12. the pigs that Jesus chased out of the temple, the money lenders, are

taking over everything. Just parasites on the back of working Americans.

[jaxx]

3. I got a credit card come on from AE and CITI today.

Go figure.

[Owl]

5. I dumped all affiliations with American Express.

[flobee]

6. everybody has less than a month left

to rape the american economy. They're grabbing whatever cash is left.

[Robbien]

7. How the heck does Amex qualify as a bank

Everyone who is supposed to be gatekeeping this is asleep.

[nc4bo]

11. Oversight? There was supposed to be oversight? Where? When? Who?

Unfrickinbelievable!

:mad:

[glinda]

21. CAN'T WE START SOME SORT OF MOVEMENT NATIONALLY TO GET ACCOUNTABILITY????

THERE MUST BE SOMETHING THE AMERICAN PUBLIC CAN DO. MUST BE. I WANT AN ACCOUNTING OF EVERY DIME.

[BunkerHill24]

23. Get rid of The Federal Reserve Bank...that's a start

[glinda]

24. That too but something from the grassroots on up??????

A super big petition, the whole Country threatens to withhold taxes, something BIG! WE DO NEED TO DO SOMETHING. WE HAVE THE POWER. We just need to exercise it.

[MichiganVote]

8. I don't think we have enough jails for all these bastards.

[sarcasmo]

9. Let the Great Heist of 2008 continue.

[CheCheCheCheYerBooty]

10. These fucking banks

jump on my shit when I overdraw and then rape me for fees and now they want sympathy when they plead for bail-out cash. Fuck them

[Acadia Blue]

13. Ditto. The big investor banks are bush's buds and parasites.

[DirtyDawg]

14. Their cost of money has all but...

...fallen below zero, but the only way they can make up for their lost revenue - when people don't buy, they don't get their fees...fees that already are higher than the others - they raise their interest rates...like they did on me last month - never been late, had the card for decades. I'm gonna dump 'em as soon as I can. Of course all the other 'banks' are doing the same thing - like Wachovia - so who you gonna move to? They gotcha and our Guvment ain't gonna stop 'em cause that would mean their money would dry up. By the way, we've made a lot of noise about executive salaries and jets and shit, why haven't we insisted that they, the banks and other financials, that take the bailout money, stop bribing Congress with their 'contributions'? I don't really expect an answer to that one.

[Joanne98]

15. WOW.. Credit card companies are broke?

[SOS]

16. Why the hell does Amex need money?

They get money at 0% and lend it out at 26%.
They charge merchants 5% on every sale.
They shaft their "members" with fees.
Their call center operators are paid $1 an hour in India.
And now they need our tax money?
This is sickening.

Don't lend them tax money.
Buy the company outright, run it honorably and let the profits accrue to the US Treasury.

[lonestarnot]

18. They certainly don't intend to pay it out in wages, but maybe someone needed a bonus.

[Psephos]

22. umm, maybe to fund credit card operations

this is a credit crunch...AMEX has had severe trouble raising capital like other financial institutions

no credit=no spending=deepening recession

the US economy is 70% consumer-purchase driven...there can be no recovery without it

[SOS]

25. Amex had no contingency plans in place?

They awarded their CEO a $250 million compensation package in January 2008.
Apparently they were doing quite well 11 months ago.
They recently jacked our card to 26% for no reason. After 25 years of prompt payment.
They jack their customers and re-charter themselves as a bank to get tax money.
Nice.

The market cap for the whole stinking company is only $21 billion.

Here's a solution:

Let the Treasury buy the company. Lower interest rates to non-usury levels. That puts money right into the consumer's pocket.
Lower merchant fees and hire Americans to answer the phone.
Directly inject capital into the new American People's Express. Let real forensic accountants go through the books to root out fraud, excessive pay and corruption.
In two years, bust the company into bank, charge card and credit divisions, do three IPO's on the new entities and recoup the tax payers money.

Ireland just did this with the Anglo Irish Bank and Sweden did this in 1991. They bought the companies outright.
It works.

[natrat]

17. let me guess-there were no questions asked and the money will not be accountable

[Azlady]

19. I read a few weeks ago that Hartford Ins

was buying a Savings & loan in Florida so they could receive some of the bailout money too. Might have been posted here.
So lets all pitch in and buy a small bank, maybe we could get some bailout help then...

[SOS]

20. Good idea.

Set up a bank on paper
Give it a name like First National Bank of Manhattan
File some forms showing some "toxic assets".
Apply for a billion in TARP funds.
Given the pathetic Paulson/SEC oversight, they'd probably send a billion, no questions asked.

Let's do business Wall Street style and retire early!

[geckosfeet]

26. They will get their money. Then two weeks later announce massive layoffs.

This corpo handout bullshit is getting extremely out of control.

Three months ago Amex saw Wall St. corpos being indiscriminately showered with tax dollars and decided that they wanted a piece of the action. So, they quickly filed for and were granted bank holding institution status in order to be eligible for handouts.

How can the taxpayers put a stop to this bullshit?

[MadMaddie]

27. AMEX should be allowed to fail.

They are asking for money 1 month after they deceide they are a bank? WTF is that about and the Fed is seriously considering it. This is absolutely robbery of tax payers dollars.

What about all of the small banks that have been doing the right thing? They aren't getting a dime from the government...AIG looks like it's going to fail even with the bailout...what's the point. And i want to know to the penny where this money went. There are crimes being committed right in front of our eyes and no one is being held accountable.

[gauguin57]

28. Well, it's American Express. Make them pay in full when we send them their next statement!

That's what they make me do!