Politico reports:
“The entire notion of the government becoming a common shareholder of any bank — let alone the 19 largest banks in the nation — is chilling,” said Camden Fine, CEO of the Independent Community Bankers of America. “There is a screaming conflict of interest. How will these banks be regulated effectively?”TARP banks can provide endless benefits for corrupt politicians.You can count on that.
In particular, Fine worries about political pressures on bank examiners as they look at banks with government ownership stakes and those without.
“No field examiner is going to put his or her career on the line to write up a negative report on a bank with substantial government ownership,” he said. “That would be career suicide.” He pointed out that there are roughly 500 banks that have taken Troubled Asset Relief Program money, leaving about 7,500 banks that would have no possibility of government ownership.
