How the banks big foreclosure settlement cheated consumers New York Atty. Gen. Eric Schneiderman has lowered the boom on Wells Fargo for what he says are serial violations of the huge foreclosure abuse settlement that Wells and four other big banks reached with federal and state regulators last year. Schneidermans legal action reminds us what a scam that supposedly groundbreaking settlement was from the get-go. Remember that settlement? Trumpeted by the regulators as a huge victory for the consumer, it required five big banks to pay $25 billion and adhere to a long list of proper foreclosure practices. The improper bank practices that were supposed to be wiped out included submitting forged or fraudulent documents, robo-signing documents the signers hadnt read, and banks foreclosing on homeowners at the same time they were negotiating with them for loan modifications. The banks were Wells, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citibank and Ally Financial (formerly GMAC). Schneiderman, who was not a great fan of the settlement to begin with, alleges that Wells has failed to meet the mandated standards. He says the bank is still saddling applicants for mortgage relief with nitpicking and redundant document demands and missing deadlines, among other abuses. (Wells says its meeting its responsibilities.) Schneiderman says Bank of America was also guilty of some of the same abuses but that bank reached an agreement him to straighten up, so it averted legal action. The foreclosure settlement was always a bank bailout in disguise. Of the headline number, $25 billion, only $5 billion of that was cash coming out of the banks pockets. The rest was credits they received for modifying underwater mortgage loans; since a loan modification that staves off a foreclosure almost always saves the lender money in the long term, the banks were actually getting credit for doing something that was in their interest anyway. True, homeowners who had been abused in the foreclosure process got compensated -- an average of $2,000 each for a total of 750,000 claimants. As the financial commentator Susan Webber, writing under her pseudonym Yves Smith, observed at the time: Weve now set a price for forgeries and fabricating documents. Its $2,000 per loan. As part of the settlement, federal regulators folded in penalties they were poised to slap on the banks. The Controller of the Currency reduced a $394-million penalty to zero. The Federal Reserve folded in $767 million in penalties. In return, the banks committed themselves to acting within the law, meaning: no criminal fraud. Apparently that was a new concept in mortgage finance. But now we learn that BofA and Wells allegedly werent even meeting that standard. Think about that the next time a politician or regulator announces that a corporate wrongdoer has been brought to book. A year after the announcement and press conference, you might learn that nothings changed. Source: Michael Hiltzik, LA Times, 10.2.13 **** Meet The 31 Corporations and Banks Who Dodged $128 Billion in US Taxes 1. Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan. Number of Offshore Tax Havens in 2010? 371. Amount of federal income taxes Bank of America would have owed if offshore tax havens were eliminated? $2.5 billion. Amount of federal income taxes paid in 2010? Zero. $1.9 billion tax refund. Bank of America received a $1.9 billion tax refund from the IRS in 2010, even though it made $4.4 billion in profits. Taxpayer Bailout from the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department? Over $1.3 trillion. 2. JP Morgan Chase CEO James Dimon Number of Offshore Tax Havens in 2010? 83. Amount of federal income taxes JP Morgan Chase would have owed if offshore tax havens were eliminated? $4.9 billion JP Morgan Chase has stashed $21.8 billion in offshore tax haven countries to avoid paying income taxes. If this practice was outlawed, it would have paid $4.9 billion in federal income taxes. Taxpayer Bailout from the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department? $416 billion. 3. Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein Amount of federal income taxes paid in 2008? Zero. $278 million tax refund. Number of offshore tax havens in 2010? 39. In 2010, Goldman Sachs operated 39 subsidiaries in offshore tax haven countries. Amount of federal income taxes Goldman Sachs would have owed if offshore tax havens were eliminated? $3.32 billion. Taxpayer Bailout from the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department? $824 billion. During the financial crisis, Goldman Sachs received a total of $814 billion in virtually zero interest loans from the Federal Reserve and a $10 billion bailout from the Treasury Department. 4. General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt Number of offshore tax havens? At least 14. Amount of federal income taxes General Electric would have owed if offshore tax havens were eliminated? $35.7 billion. GE has stashed $102 billion in offshore tax haven countries to avoid paying income taxes. If this practice was outlawed, it would have paid $35.7 billion more in federal income taxes. Amount of federal income taxes paid in 2010? Zero. $3.3 billion tax refund. In 2010, not only did General Electric pay no federal income taxes, it received a $3.3 billion tax refund from the IRS, even though it earned over $5 billion in U.S. profits. Taxpayer Bailout from the Federal Reserve? $16 billion. During the financial crisis, the Federal Reserve provided GE with $16 billion in financial assistance, at a time when Jeffrey Immelt was a director of the New York Federal Reserve. Jobs Shipped Overseas? At least 25,000 since 2001. 5. Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam Amount of federal income taxes paid in 2010? Zero. $705 million tax refund. In 2010, Verizon received a $705 million refund from the IRS despite earning $11.9 billion in pre-tax U.S. profits. Amount of federal income taxes Verizon would have owed if offshore tax havens were eliminated? $525 million. Verizon has stashed $1.5 billion in offshore tax havens to avoid paying U.S. income taxes. Verizon would owe an estimated $525 million in federal income taxes if its use of offshore tax avoidance was eliminated. American Jobs Cut in 2010? In 2010, Verizon announced 13,000 job cuts, the third highest corporate layoff total that year. 6. Honeywell International CEO David Cote Amount of federal income taxes paid from 2008-2010? Zero. $34 million tax refund. From 2008 through 2010, not only did Honeywell pay no federal income taxes, it received a $34 million tax refund from the IRS, even though it earned over $4.9 billion in U.S. profits during those years. Amount of federal income taxes Honeywell would have owed if offshore tax havens were eliminated? $2.835 billion. Honeywell has stashed $8.1 billion in offshore tax havens to avoid paying U.S. income taxes. Honeywell would owe an estimated $2.835 billion in federal income taxes if its use of offshore tax avoidance was eliminated. 7. Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier Amount of federal income taxes paid in 2009? Zero. $55 million tax refund. In 2009, not only did Merck pay no federal income taxes, it received a $55 million tax refund from the IRS, even though it earned more than $5.7 billion in U.S. profits. Amount of federal income taxes Merck would have owed if offshore tax havens were eliminated? $15.5 billion. Merck has stashed $44.3 billion in offshore tax haven countries to avoid paying income taxes. If this practice was outlawed, it would have paid $15.5 billion more in federal income taxes. 8. Corning CEO Wendell Weeks Amount of federal income taxes paid from 2008-2010? Zero. $4 million tax refund. From 2008 through 2010, not only did Corning pay no federal income taxes, it received a $4 million tax refund from the IRS, even though it earned nearly $2 billion in U.S. profits during those years. Amount of federal income taxes Corning would have owed if offshore tax havens were eliminated? $3.78 billion. Corning has stashed $10.8 billion in offshore tax havens to avoid paying U.S. income taxes. Corning would owe an estimated $3.78 billion in federal income taxes if its use of offshore tax avoidance was eliminated. 9. Boeing CEO James McNerney, Jr. Amount of federal income taxes paid in 2010? None. $124 million tax refund. Boeing, which received a $30 billion contract from the Pentagon to build 179 airborne tankers, got a $124 million refund from the IRS in 2010. Amount of federal income taxes Boeing would have owed if offshore tax havens were eliminated? $66 million. Boeing would owe an estimated $66 million more in federal income taxes if its use of offshore tax avoidance was eliminated. American Jobs Shipped overseas? Over 57,000. Since 1994, more than 57,000 Americans lost their jobs at Boeing as a result of overseas outsourcing or rising imports. Amount of Corporate Welfare? At least $58 billion. 10. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer Amount of federal income taxes Microsoft would have owed if offshore tax havens were eliminated? $19.4 billion. Microsoft has stashed over $60 billion in offshore tax haven countries to avoid paying income taxes. If this practice was outlawed, it would have paid 19.4 billion more in federal income taxes. For complete list of 31 corporations, etc. and article go to: politicususa/sanders-report-corporations-tax-dodge.html
Posted on: Sun, 03 Nov 2013 15:53:29 +0000
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