美国财政部长蒂莫西盖特纳(Timothy Geithner)周一将公布政府帮助银行剥离有毒资产的详细计划。美国财政部在一份新闻稿中表示，将在美东时间周一上午8:45召开新闻发布会。该计划的如意算盘是，打折的价格和政府的援助将吸引投资者购买这些资产。根据设计框架，这一计划将扩大现有的毒资产消除项目，并创建新的项目，但它将严重依赖私人领域投资者的参与。在美国国际集团(AIG)引发奖金风波之际，这些项目成了华盛顿对华尔街的声讨目标。其结果是，许多投资者都对在当前环境下与政府做生意表示谨慎，而这有可能给该项计划的前景蒙上阴影。另一个难点是，这一计划的规模小于最初的预想，从而有可能损害其效力。心神不宁的投资者一直在急切等待政府这一计划的出台，计划的内容之一是建立一个由美国联邦存款保险公司(FDIC)支持的实体，由它来购买并持有那些不良贷款。此外，财政部还打算扩大美国联邦储备委员会(Federal Reserve)一项贷款安排的规模，将那些所谓的历史遗留不良资产包括进来。这项名为定期资产支持证券贷款工具(TALF)的项目目前只购买支持所有消费者和小企业贷款的新发行证券。但一些最具毒性的资产是2005年和2006年发行的证券，TALF今后连这些证券也可以购买了。最后，政府还将继续推进财政部长盖特纳上月草拟的一些计划，建立一系列公私合营的投资基金以购买抵押贷款支持证券和其他证券。这些基金虽将由民间的投资管理公司来经营，但却由私人资本和政府资金联合提供资本金，投资双方将共享利润共担损失。总而言之，政府此番三管齐下旨在让因投资者离场观望而失灵的市场重新恢复运转。这一努力面临的一大问题是，这些有毒资产许多已不再交易，这意味着很难给它们定价。持有这些资产的银行不愿以过低价格将其出售，而投资者又不愿冒险购入这些资产。财政部希望，为有毒资产收购计划引入私人投资者将有助于为这些资产确定市场价格。早些时候由政府来为这些资产定价的努力进展不力，因为定价过高将损害纳税人的利益，定价过低又会损害银行的利益。相反，由私人投资者来与银行讨价还价却有可能形成一个市场价格，因为私人投资者不大可能花冤枉钱购买有毒资产，而银行也不大可能贱卖这些资产。政府将为这些有毒资产收购项目提供一部分资金，并分享投资利润承担投资损失，不过具体出资金额尚未确定。鉴于政府的救市资金日益枯竭，财政部给公私合营毒资产收购基金的出资可能少于人们此前的预想。财政部官员今年早些时候曾说出资规模会在1,000亿至2,000亿美元之间。政府还有可能增加对TALF项目的投资。而据一位知情人士说，联邦存款保险公司会为不良贷款投资提供5,000亿美元的担保。为了增加政府所提供资金的数量，财政部正依赖美联储和联邦存款保险公司来为这些项目提供支持。例如，根据新推出的TALF项目，美联储将向购买消费信贷所支持贷款的投资者提供低风险融资。这些有毒资产收购项目是否能取得预期效果，部分将取决于华尔街投资者本周将对AIG奖金风波作何反应。国会正在针对接受政府财政救助的金融机构采取行动，对这些机构所发放的奖金征收重税。投资者对参与政府推出的金融救助项目已普遍持谨慎态度，因为他们担心国会可能突然修改游戏规则。以对冲基金为例，它们本意是要从对这些救助项目的参与中获得丰厚利润，因此担心如果社会上的反华尔街情绪进一步升温，它们有可能保不住到手的利润。银行界人士已经对国会的举动表示了愤怒。美国银行(Bank of America Corp.)首席执行长肯尼斯刘易斯(Kenneth Lewis)上周五在一封致员工的信中说，对奖金开火的建议“有可能损害政府推动金融业复苏的能力”。他写道，政府的几项救市计划“有赖于私营部门愿意与政府达成交易。如果私营部门的投资者或企业认为，规则会迅速而不分青红皂白地改变，他们将不愿意参与。”财政部仍在讨论它是否能灵活掌握经济刺激法案中约束管理层薪酬的那些规定。根据这项法案，任何接受政府救助资金的机构都需遵循这些约束管理层薪酬的规定。一些投资者担心，他们参与有毒资产收购计划后，也须接受这些薪酬约束。美联储的TALF项目已获准免受管理层薪酬限制的约束。对盖特纳来说，不把这项计划搞砸对证明他的能力至关重要。上周，由于议员们想知道他为何没有采取更多措施防止AIG奖金问题发生，致使盖特纳的声望遭受打击。而早些时候国会审查他的财政部长任职资格时，对他未能缴纳一些个人所得税的质疑也曾给审查工作蒙上阴影。盖特纳早在二月份就宣布了有毒资产收购计划，由于未公布具体细节，他的这一行动受到了广泛批评。这项计划可能是奥巴马政府对金融危机施加重大影响的最佳机会。国会议员们说，由于人们对政府的救助计划迟迟未能见效越来越不耐烦，国会在去年秋季批准的那7,000亿美元金融业救助资金之外另行拨款的可能性短期内已接近于零。财政部在救助金融业方面可能将不得不转而依赖美联储联邦存款保险公司和私人投资者。Deborah Solomon相关阅读美众议院通过奖金税法案 附加税高达90% 2009-03-20美国政府将救助汽车零部件供应商 2009-03-20欧盟拒绝增加经济刺激和救助支出 2009-03-20美国会奖金税法案震撼华尔街 2009-03-20
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will on Monday provide details about the government's latest plan to help rid banks of toxic assets clogging the financial system, betting that investors will be attracted to the combination of discount prices and government assistance.The Treasury Department said in a press release that it will hold the briefing at 8:45 a.m. EDT on Monday.But the framework, designed to expand existing programs and create new ones, relies heavily on participation from private-sector investors. They've been the target of a virulent anti-Wall Street backlash from Washington in the wake of the American International Group Inc. bonus furor. As a result, many investors have expressed concern about doing business with the government in this climate -- potentially casting a cloud over the program's prospects. Another sticking point: the program is smaller than originally envisioned, which could hurt its effectiveness.The administration's plan, which has been eagerly awaited by jittery investors, includes creating an entity, backed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., to purchase and hold loans.In addition, the Treasury Department intends to expand a Federal Reserve facility to include older -- so-called 'legacy' -- assets. Currently, the program, known as the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility, or TALF, was set up to buy newly issued securities backing all manner of consumer and small-business loans. But some of the most toxic assets are securities created in 2005 and 2006, which the TALF will now be able to absorb.Finally, the government is moving ahead with plans, sketched out by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner last month, to establish public-private investment funds to purchase mortgage-backed and other securities. These funds would be run by private investment managers but be financed with a combination of private money and capital from the government, which would share in any profit or loss.All told, the three efforts are designed to unglue markets that have seized up as investors have stood on the sidelines. One big problem is that many of these assets no longer trade, which means it's very hard to put a price on them. Banks are unwilling to sell at too low a price, and investors are unwilling to take the risk.The Treasury's hope is that introducing private investors will help create market prices. Earlier attempts to have the government set the prices foundered because too high a price would hurt taxpayers and too low a price would hurt banks. Private investors, by contrast, could set a market price because they are unlikely to overpay and banks are unlikely to undersell.The government will contribute some amount of capital to all these efforts and would share in any profit or loss, although the exact amounts aren't yet settled. The size of the Treasury's contribution to public-private partnerships is likely to be less than it previously envisioned -- possibly around $50 billion -- given the drain on its bailout resources. Treasury officials earlier this year talked about funding it with between $100 billion and $200 billion. It's also likely to make an additional investment in the TALF. The FDIC's effort could guarantee $500 billion in bad-loan investments, said a person familiar with the matter.To beef up the amount of government funding, the Treasury is relying on the Fed and the FDIC to provide backing for these programs. For example, under the newly launched TALF, the Fed provides inexpensive and low-risk financing for investors to buy loans backed by consumer credit.Whether these programs will work as anticipated depends in part on how Wall Street investors react to the AIG furor this week. Congress is moving to clamp down on anyone receiving financial aid by severely taxing bonus payments.More broadly, investors have become leery about signing on to government programs for fear Congress will abruptly change the rules. Hedge funds, for example, which stand to make sizable profits from participating, worry they won't be able to keep their gains if the mood swing further against Wall Street.Bankers are already expressing anger at Congress's moves. In a letter to employees Friday, Kenneth Lewis, Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive, said that proposals to clamp down on bonuses 'have the potential to damage the ability of the government to engineer a financial recovery.' Several of the government's plans, he wrote, 'depend on the private sector being willing to contract with the government. If investors or companies in the private sector believe that the rules can change quickly and indiscriminately, they will be unwilling to participate.'The Treasury is still discussing whether it can get around restrictions on executive compensation that were included in the stimulus bill. That provision was designed to hit any recipient of bailout funds and some investors worry that their participation in the toxic-asset program would subject them to those restrictions. The Fed's TALF program already has such an exception.For Mr. Geithner, getting this plan right is paramount to proving his abilities. His reputation took a hit this week as lawmakers demanded to know why he didn't do more to derail the AIG bonuses. Earlier, Mr. Geithner's nomination was clouded by questions about his failure to pay personal taxes. His February announcement of the toxic-asset plan, which was shy on details, was also widely panned.The plan might be the administration's best chance to make a big impact on the financial crisis. With bailout fatigue running high, the chances of Congress proffering more funds beyond the $700 billion authorized last fall are close to zero in the short term, lawmakers say. The Treasury instead will likely have to rely on the Fed, FDIC and private investors.Deborah Solomon
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will on Monday provide details about the government's latest plan to help rid banks of toxic assets clogging the financial system, betting that investors will be attracted to the combination of discount prices and government assistance.The Treasury Department said in a press release that it will hold the briefing at 8:45 a.m. EDT on Monday.But the framework, designed to expand existing programs and create new ones, relies heavily on participation from private-sector investors. They've been the target of a virulent anti-Wall Street backlash from Washington in the wake of the American International Group Inc. bonus furor. As a result, many investors have expressed concern about doing business with the government in this climate -- potentially casting a cloud over the program's prospects. Another sticking point: the program is smaller than originally envisioned, which could hurt its effectiveness.The administration's plan, which has been eagerly awaited by jittery investors, includes creating an entity, backed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., to purchase and hold loans.In addition, the Treasury Department intends to expand a Federal Reserve facility to include older -- so-called 'legacy' -- assets. Currently, the program, known as the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility, or TALF, was set up to buy newly issued securities backing all manner of consumer and small-business loans. But some of the most toxic assets are securities created in 2005 and 2006, which the TALF will now be able to absorb.Finally, the government is moving ahead with plans, sketched out by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner last month, to establish public-private investment funds to purchase mortgage-backed and other securities. These funds would be run by private investment managers but be financed with a combination of private money and capital from the government, which would share in any profit or loss.All told, the three efforts are designed to unglue markets that have seized up as investors have stood on the sidelines. One big problem is that many of these assets no longer trade, which means it's very hard to put a price on them. Banks are unwilling to sell at too low a price, and investors are unwilling to take the risk.The Treasury's hope is that introducing private investors will help create market prices. Earlier attempts to have the government set the prices foundered because too high a price would hurt taxpayers and too low a price would hurt banks. Private investors, by contrast, could set a market price because they are unlikely to overpay and banks are unlikely to undersell.The government will contribute some amount of capital to all these efforts and would share in any profit or loss, although the exact amounts aren't yet settled. The size of the Treasury's contribution to public-private partnerships is likely to be less than it previously envisioned -- possibly around $50 billion -- given the drain on its bailout resources. Treasury officials earlier this year talked about funding it with between $100 billion and $200 billion. It's also likely to make an additional investment in the TALF. The FDIC's effort could guarantee $500 billion in bad-loan investments, said a person familiar with the matter.To beef up the amount of government funding, the Treasury is relying on the Fed and the FDIC to provide backing for these programs. For example, under the newly launched TALF, the Fed provides inexpensive and low-risk financing for investors to buy loans backed by consumer credit.Whether these programs will work as anticipated depends in part on how Wall Street investors react to the AIG furor this week. Congress is moving to clamp down on anyone receiving financial aid by severely taxing bonus payments.More broadly, investors have become leery about signing on to government programs for fear Congress will abruptly change the rules. Hedge funds, for example, which stand to make sizable profits from participating, worry they won't be able to keep their gains if the mood swing further against Wall Street.Bankers are already expressing anger at Congress's moves. In a letter to employees Friday, Kenneth Lewis, Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive, said that proposals to clamp down on bonuses 'have the potential to damage the ability of the government to engineer a financial recovery.' Several of the government's plans, he wrote, 'depend on the private sector being willing to contract with the government. If investors or companies in the private sector believe that the rules can change quickly and indiscriminately, they will be unwilling to participate.'The Treasury is still discussing whether it can get around restrictions on executive compensation that were included in the stimulus bill. That provision was designed to hit any recipient of bailout funds and some investors worry that their participation in the toxic-asset program would subject them to those restrictions. The Fed's TALF program already has such an exception.For Mr. Geithner, getting this plan right is paramount to proving his abilities. His reputation took a hit this week as lawmakers demanded to know why he didn't do more to derail the AIG bonuses. Earlier, Mr. Geithner's nomination was clouded by questions about his failure to pay personal taxes. His February announcement of the toxic-asset plan, which was shy on details, was also widely panned.The plan might be the administration's best chance to make a big impact on the financial crisis. With bailout fatigue running high, the chances of Congress proffering more funds beyond the $700 billion authorized last fall are close to zero in the short term, lawmakers say. The Treasury instead will likely have to rely on the Fed, FDIC and private investors.Deborah Solomon
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