Taxpayers and shareholders

The Obama administration seems to be moving in the right direction, though it is only inching that way. Today’s announcement on the bank bailout — essentially turning the federal government into a major shareholder — should have come a few weeks ago. It basically is a

road map under which the federal government could, if it wanted to, demand a major and possibly a controlling stake in systemically important banks like Citigroup and Bank of America.

The 20 biggest banks will be required to undergo a new “stress test,” starting Wednesday, which is intended to determine whether each bank has enough capital to survive if the economy spirals down even more than most forecasters already expect.

Treasury officials plan to introduce details of the stress test on Wednesday, and it is expected to take several weeks to complete.

If a bank comes up short, Treasury officials said on Monday, the government will require it to raise more capital. If the bank cannot get that money from private sources, the government will demand that the bank swap out the government’s existing, nonvoting preferred shares — issued during the first phase of the Treasury’s $700 billion financial bailout program last September — and replace them with new preferred shares that are convertible to common stock with voting rights.

The requirements will apply both to banks that receive additional money in the months ahead and to banks that have already received money.

Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie. View all posts by hankkalet