JPMorgan Chase & Co and American Express Co were the latest recipients of federal bailout funds to launch public stock offerings aimed at proving to the US Treasury Department that they can raise capital on their own and do not need to keep taxpayer aid.
JPMorgan said on Monday it intends to raise US$5 billion through a common stock offering as it seeks to repay the US$25 billion that the bank was awarded under the government’s troubled asset relief program. American Express also said on Monday it would sell US$500 million in stock in a public offering to help pay back part of the US$3.4 billion in funds it has received under the federal government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).
Banks have chafed against rules imposed by US Congress after they took the bailout money, including limits on executive compensation.
The US Federal Reserve on Monday laid out rules for how the 19 largest financial institutions can wind down their reliance on government support.
The banks, which have assets of more than US$100 billion, were subjected to “stress tests” to determine their financial strength. They have received a total of US$228.6 billion from Treasury’s US$700 billion financial bailout package.
The test results, released last month, showed 10 of the banks had to raise a total of US$75 billion in new capital to withstand possible future losses.
Those banks have since been scrambling to raise the money through stock offerings and other financial moves. Banks that were not deemed to need more capital and which want to repay bailout funds must prove they can raise money without relying on guarantees against losses provided by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
In order to repay the money, banks had to apply to their primary regulators for permission. Successful applications were forwarded to Treasury for final approval, with the first round of approvals expected next week. JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Morgan Stanley, American Express and Bank of New York Mellon all have applied to repay the more than US$50 billion they have received in total.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique