Banks, Mortgage | featured news

The board that sets U.S. accounting standards voted to adopt guidelines that could reduce the losses banks have been forced to report as the values of their securities have crumbled.

The resignation comes amid rising losses and unresolved questions about the mortgage giant's path. The government-appointed chief executive of McLean, Va.-based Freddie Mac said Monday that he was resigning from the mortgage-finance giant, less than six months into the job.

Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, whose bank received $25 billion in bailout funds from the government, refused to tell CNBC anchor Melissa Francis how the bank is performing this quarter.

"Can you tell me how this quarter is doing for JPMorgan?" Francis asked.

Dimon's brief response: "I can't."

JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. are halting home foreclosures while the Obama administration develops its plans to help the U.S. housing market.

Banks can't unload their toxic assets. But what if their assets weren't toxic?

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will lay out a bank-rescue plan on Tuesday that will rely on public and private funds to take $500 billion of bad assets off banks' books, sources said.