Fed's massive data release offers new insight into financial crisis

[ProSense]

Fed's massive data release offers new insight into financial crisis

By Peter Schroeder

The Federal Reserve has posted detailed information about over 21,000 transactions it undertook with other institutions to stabilize markets during the 2008 financial crisis.

The large disclosure, mandated as part of the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul, shines additional light on the dramatic steps the Fed took to assist other institutions during the crisis. The Fed noted in its announcement of the data dump that most of these transactions have since closed as the crisis abated, and that it expects to incur no credit losses on wound-down and still active deals.

"These facilities were open to participants that met clearly outlined eligibility criteria; participation in them reflected the severe market disruptions during the financial crisis and generally did not reflect participants' financial weakness," the Fed stated.

Several of the transactions consisted of short-term loans made to financial institutions to help preserve liquidity in panicked markets and purchases of agency mortgage-backed securities to boost the ailing housing market.

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Sanders Statement on Fed Disclosure

December 1, 2010

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1 - Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement on today's disclosure by the Federal Reserve that banks and other institutions received an estimated $3.3 trillion in emergency loans and other assistance during the financial crisis:

"After years of stonewalling by the Fed, the American people are finally learning the incredible and jaw-dropping details of the Fed's multi-trillion-dollar bailout of Wall Street and corporate America. Perhaps most surprising is the huge sum that went to bail out foreign private banks and corporations. As a result of this disclosure, other members of Congress and I will be taking a very extensive look at all aspects of how the Federal Reserve functions."

Under a Sanders provision in the Wall Street reform bill, the central bank was required by to disclose which financial institutions, corporations, and foreign central banks took heretofore secret loans.

[slay]

1. At least Bernie is on our side

and even he won't go so far as to call himself a Democrat. That tells me something because there seems to me nothing extreme about Sanders - I agree with him way more often than I do our current Dems. Recommended.