The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. proposed on Tuesday shiftingthe burden for protecting depositors against bank failures towardlarger lenders whose reliance on riskier funding sources may pose agreater threat to the financial system.
The FDIC board approved two proposals for overhauling assessmentsfor its deposit insurance fund, including one that would base thefees on banks' liabilities rather than their domestic deposits. Thefee proposal, a response to the Dodd-Frank financial-regulation law,would increase assessments on banks with more than $10 billion inassets. The measure is subject to a 45-day comment period.
FDIC-member banks pay quarterly assessments for the insurancefund, which guarantees deposits of as much as $250,000 per accountwhen lenders are shut down. The fund, which fell into deficit asbank closings soared in the wake of the 2008 credit crisis, had anegative $15.2 billion balance in the second quarter.
The measure would increase the largest banks' share of overallassessments to 80 percent from the present 70 percent, the FDICsaid. The assessment increase would be in place by the secondquarter of next year, according to the proposal.
Banks such as Bank of America and Citigroup, which receivedbillions of dollars in taxpayer aid, would take a hit under theproposal, said James Chessen, chief economist for the AmericanBankers Association.
"The shift of this burden is so significant, it will cause themto shift their funding strategy in order to manage it," Chessen saidafter the FDIC meeting.
Chevron agreed to acquire natural gas producer Atlas Energy,marking the major oil company's first foray into the rich gas fieldsin the eastern United States. Including debt, the cash-and-stockdeal is worth about $4.3 billion, the companies said Tuesday.
Chevron, based in San Ramon, Calif., is the latest major oilcompany to make a big acquisition in the natural gas sector,following moves by Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell. Atlas is a bigplayer in the Marcellus shale of Western Pennsylvania and elsewhere.
Many energy companies have rushed to tap America's largereservoirs of natural gas hidden in shale rock formations, using newdrilling technologies that have brought down the cost of production.Chevron hadn't made any significant moves to explore in the shaledeposits, until now. With natural gas prices continuing to languish,analysts say Chevron is striking at a time when it can get a goodprice for those assets.
Shares of Atlas jumped $10.78, or 34 percent, to $42.50, whileChevron shares fell $1.24, or 1.5 percent, to close at $83.56.
l Goodbye, Mr. Goodwrench: General Motors is asking Mr.Goodwrench to pack up his toolbox. The mechanic who served as thesymbol of GM's dealer service brand since 1974 will be scrapped asof Feb. 1 in favor of "certified service" brands for each of GM'sfour remaining nameplates, the company said Tuesday. GM dumped fourbrands as it went through bankruptcy protection last year and nowsells only Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac. The company said in astatement that it is making the move to better connect the brandswith their customers.
l U.S. contests woman's firing over Facebook entry: A Connecticutwoman who was fired after she posted disparaging remarks about herboss on Facebook has prompted a first-of-its-kind legal case byfederal authorities who say her comments are protected speech underlabor laws.
aEUR [f]The National Labor Relations Board alleges that AmericanMedical Response of Connecticut illegally fired Dawnmarie Souza fromher job as an emergency medical technician late last year after shecriticized her supervisor on her Facebook page and then tradedmessages about the negative comments with co-workers.
aEUR [f]The case could set a precedent as more workers use social-networking sites to share details about their jobs. Federal laborlaw has long protected employees against reprisal for talking to co-workers on their own time about their jobs, including remarks thatmay be critical of managers.
aEUR [f]An American Medical Response spokesman said Souza wasfired because of complaints about her work and defended the policyprohibiting workers from depicting the company in any way on theInternet. An administrative law judge is expected to hear the casein January.
- From news services
No comments:
Post a Comment