Federal Reserve fines Wells Fargo $85 million for steering borrowers into subprime

[banned from Kos]

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fed-fines-wells-fargo-85-mln-for-mortgage-abuses-2011-07-20-150280?siteid=yhoof2

"The Federal Reserve on Wednesday slapped an $85 million fine on Wells Fargo & Co for allegedly steering borrowers into high-cost subprime mortgage loans even though they qualified for safer loans. The fine is the largest civil monetary penalty the Fed has ever assessed in a consumer-protection enforcement action, the central bank said in a press release. The Fed said employees at a subsidiary of Wells Fargo falsified information about borrowers' incomes to make it appear they qualified for loans."

President Obama appointed a pro-consumer economist to the Fed BoG who is working on this - Sarah Bloom Raskin.

[The Big Vetolski]

1. 85 million is pocket change to them. Nationalize the bastards! nt

[originalpckelly]

3. Did you know that's actually part of what was planned back in the '30s?

The people who in that moment came up with the insurance that eventually became the FDIC wanted all banks to switch to a 100% reserve model. Where the banks would be totally incapable of making loans, but that a Federal Monetary Authority would be responsible for issuing credit after that.

The FDIC was actually just a temporary stop gap that was normalized because big bankers leaned on the government.

So, in other words, the part of a bank that is OK to be private, the place where you store funds, would have been private under that system, and the loans of the nation would have been originated by the Federal Monetary Authority.

In fact, part of the reforms in the Glass-Steagall act giving the Federal Reserve more power, were intended to allow them to eventually raise the reserve requirement to 100%.

[The Big Vetolski]

4. I did once, but I had forgotten that bit of history. Thanks. nt

[EFerrari]

2. How does this help now homeless families? n /t

[lib2DaBone]

5. We are all screwed. The best we can hope for.. is not to be sent to FEMA Camps...

[Dappleganger]

6. The cost of doing bidness.