Mortgage-Rate Drop Sets off Refinancing Rush

Banks took in billions of dollars, even as they claimed to be healthy

(NEWSER) - For more than two years, the Fed and the banks it bailed out during the 2007 to 2009 financial crisis have kept many of the details of the massive, multi-trillion-dollar bailout a secret. But, thanks to Freedom of Information Act requests, 29,000 pages of bailout details are pouring out of the Fed at last, and those details are explained in an extended and damning report by Bloomberg Markets magazine. Among the biggest revelations:

• $7.77 trillion: the total amount doled out in aid by the Fed to all the banks, as of March 2009, which Bloomberg notes surpasses 50% of the value of "everything produced in the US that year." In comparison, the $700 billion TARP "at least had some strings attached," says one House Democrat. "With the Fed programs, there was nothing."

Proposal could save homeowners $85B annually

(NEWSER) - Help could be on the way for struggling homeowners with government-backed mortgages: The Obama administration is considering a proposal that would allow such homeowners to refinance their mortgages at today's interest rates, which hover around a low 4%. Many homeowners can’t currently refinance because they owe more than their house’s current value or have poor credit. Such a move could impact millions of homeowners and save them an estimated $85 billion a year, thus stimulating the economy by freeing up that money to be spent in other areas, the New York Times notes. More»

Court forces Fed to release info

(NEWSER) - When the Federal Reserve opened its “discount window” at the height of the financial crisis, a lot of foreign banks lined up. The 97-year-old program hit an all-time high during October 2008, and during its peak week, 70% of the $110.7 billion doled out went to foreign banks, according to data the Fed has long tried to keep secret. Bloomberg obtained the documents after winning a court case over its Freedom of Information Act request. More»

Banks sought to block details from media

(NEWSER) - The Federal Reserve will release information on several emergency loans it made to prominent banks when the financial crisis struck in 2008, CNNMoney reports. Bloomberg News initially filed a lawsuit against the Fed in an attempt to gain details on the loans; the Fed declined the request due to "trade secrets" that might be revealed in the fine print. While the banks and Fed won the initial lawsuit, an appellate court ruled that the media should get the information. More»

Other beneficiaries included ... Verizon, Harley-Davidson?

(NEWSER) - The beneficiaries of the Federal Reserve's $3.3 trillion in emergency programs during the financial crisis aren't names you'd expect to see: Foreign banks including UBS and Barclays ranked among the biggest borrowers under the Commercial Paper Funding Facility, sparking more debate over the central bank's role, Bloomberg reports. A helping hand also went to companies that most wouldn't link to Wall Street, according to some 21,000 loan records released yesterday: With credit frozen, the Fed also purchased commercial paper from the likes of GE, Verizon, and Harley-Davidson. More»