Wells Fargo Assails TARP, Calls Stress Test ‘Asinine’

[Roland99]

Source: Bloomberg

March 16 (Bloomberg) -- Wells Fargo & Co. Chairman Richard Kovacevich criticized the U.S. for retroactively adding curbs to the Troubled Asset Relief Program, which he said forced the bank to cut its dividend, and called the administration’s plan for stress-testing banks “asinine.”

When the U.S. Treasury persuaded the nation’s nine biggest banks to accept capital investments in October, it signaled the whole industry was weak, Kovacevich, 65, said in a March 13 speech at Stanford University in California. Even though Wells Fargo didn’t want the money, it must comply with the same rules that the government placed on banks that did need it, he said.

“Is this America -- when you do what your government asks you to do and then retroactively you also have additional conditions?” Kovacevich said. “If we were not forced to take the TARP money, we would have been able to raise private capital at that time” and not needed to cut the dividend to preserve cash, he said.

Kovacevich joins a growing list of bankers who are chafing at restrictions imposed by the TARP program, which affect lending, foreclosures, pay and perks. Lenders including Bank of America Corp., U.S. Bancorp and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. have said they want to give back the money. More than 500 banks, insurers and credit-card companies applied for TARP capital, and the government has distributed almost $300 billion.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aWWd8s37rrE0&refer=worldwide

---

Yeah...and just how in the hell was Kovacevich going to do that?

[DJ13]

1. It sounds like he knows his bank wont pass

[Skink]

2. He's afraid that his banks money laundering activities could be exposed.

[aquart]

5. That's exactly how it sounds.

[tomm2thumbs]

14. exactly

you got that right

[madmom]

3. For some reason this sentence made me laugh.....

"U.S. Treasury persuaded the nation’s nine biggest banks to accept capital investments"

[CountAllVotes]

4. when you bite the hand that feeds you

this is what you get - an audit and then some! :nuke:

:rofl:

:kick:

[FreakinDJ]

6. Since Banking was De-Regulated - Who knows whats on the Books

If I applied for a loan from them they would want to know every thing about me right down to what size under ware

These guys are just like the fucking FreepTards criticizing every move Obama makes. Its time he sent some of these ungrateful frat boys to Bankruptcy court

Which hopefully will lead to the unemployment line for some of these crooks that caused the whole mortgage crisis

[HowHasItComeToThis]

20. BINGO

[ladywnch]

7. fine, then give it ALL back you ungrateful bastards! n/t

[Igel]

21. Sorry, that they can't do.

There are restrictions on how they can return it, and until then they pay something like 5% interest on the money.

[earcandle]

22. Then I want 5% interest on my debts too!

makes sense to me! 
(smiles)

[soothsayer]

8. I have no doubt that it's asinine in tons of ways since it was not thought out

except for the consolidations of power and looting of our treasure and theft of our pensions and 401(k)s. THAT part they thought through.

[jwirr]

9. Who is forcing you to take the money? You could always go broke

like the rest of us.

[WriteDown]

13. Actually...

They were required to accept TARP money. One of the few who did not want it.

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2008/10/20/paulsons-offer-no-bank-could-refuse.aspx

[SahaleArm]

19. I'd be happy to if the Treasury cut off Wells.

Let them sink or swim on their own. I'd be happier if the Fed closed their personal discount window.

[Stargazer09]

10. Sounds like a lot of bravado

They don't like being "mistreated."

[Roland99]

27. Sounds to me like he's hiding something and doesn't want it exposed.

Sorta like how a wingnut Republican starts flailing about when backed into a corner with the facts.

[Stargazer09]

28. I agree

It would be comical to watch those wingnuts if their behavior didn't make us sick.

And I'm willing to bet that they ARE hiding something.

[DallasNE]

11. This Is Just An Example Of

The kind of flack that this country faces as it attempts to reinstate common sense regulation and oversight designed to prevent another occurrance of the deranged financial arrangements that lead to our near collapse as a nation. Rather than letting out this whine Kovacevich should feel lucky that he still has a job.

[stevedeshazer]

12. As a former Wells Fargo agent, I say Kovacevich is an idiot. n/t

[nyy1998]

16. Another former WF employee here too

And I know most WF employees that I worked w/ don't agree with this guy's political views

[Kalyan]

15. liar, coward or hypocrite - i can't decide which one applies to kovacevich

1. If WF Chairman thought that his bank was better equipped to deal with the crisis, he should have raised a havoc against TARP at that time. He didn't, because he knew that the govt would dump him like the treatment meted out to Lehman Brothers. So, he took the money when in dire straits. Now that the market is improving, he is making all the noise.

2. Mr. Kovacevich - Can you state that your organization HAS NEVER EVER CHANGED THE TERMS OF A LOAN / CREDIT CARD? If you can change your loan/credit card conditions, why can't your lender (the govt) change terms? Is having your own medicine bitter?

Stop whining and be a man. Either you return the TARP funds and do what you like or adjust your behavior to be in line with public opinion as you have taken their money.

[earcandle]

23. They consistently raised my rates until they were out of my market.

[Grinchie]

17. Some cheerleaders were complaining that Government "Forced" them to take bailout money.

This is the mantra coming from the employees that are getting ready to be fired by Well Fargo, because they were so responsible and did not feast at the trough like All the others.

Of course, they don't mention the acquisitions of AIG and other failed banks, which probably forced them into needing the bailout funds anyway.

Give it back then, you bunch of crybaby Schadenfreude mf'ers.

[Abq_Sarah]

18. I've heard the forced claim as well

But I can't seem to find anything definitive that proves it in any way. I know they claim regulators bullied them into accepting funds and that wouldn't surprise me in the least but didn't anyone have enough of a freaking backbone to stand up and tell them to stuff it?

[Number_Six]

24. Translation...

"We're in doodoo so deep a backhoe won't get to it all, yet, we've got to maintain this BS cover story so that our stocks won't go Smurfit-Stone."

In other words, Wells, like other banks, is marginally solvent, and if the books were forced open, well.............

I've got a better idea for these firms. It's called Chapter 11.

[radfringe]

25. ...we would have been able to raise private capital at that time

1. Give TARP MONEY BACK

2. Raise your own private capital

3. Don't come begging for a bailout

[ixion]

26. After watching them loot the treasury, and then jack interest rates on credit cards

I'm out of sympathy for them -- not that I ever had much in the first place.


But right about now, all banks can take a flying f**k at the moon, for all I care.