Financial Industry, Bank Bailout | featured news

Insurer AIG says it will not join a $25bn (£16bn) lawsuit against the US government, which alleges that the terms of its rescue deal were unfair.

The Treasury Department plans to sell its remaining holdings of common stock in the American International Group, essentially ending taxpayers' four-year ownership of the bailed-out insurer.

The sweeping overhaul of the nation's financial industry is President Barack Obama's answer to the nation's outrage over Wall Street bailouts. But come November if more Americans don't have jobs, Democrats in Congress could very well lose theirs, too.

Some top finance firms that got federal aid also increased fringe benefits for their chief executives.

The Treasury Department said Monday it will begin selling the stake it owns in Citigroup Inc., which could result in a profit to the government of about $7.5 billion. Government received 7.7B shares in exchange for $25B it gave the banking firm during credit crisis.

House lawmakers hold their first hearing about how to restructure the mortgage system.

President Obama’s proposal for a direct tax on banks to pay for future bailouts is gaining momentum in Europe.

An overwhelming majority of Americans wants Wall Street subjected to tougher regulation in the aftermath of the bank bailout and the bonus scandals that have rocked the U.S. financial sector, according to a Harris poll released on Thursday.

GMAC, the troubled finance company that last week scored a third government bailout, said Tuesday it expects to post a record fourth-quarter loss of $5 billion.

President Barack Obama singled out financial institutions for causing much of the economic tailspin and criticized their opposition to tighter federal oversight of their industry....