US Mulls Private-Bank Plan Bailout

据知情人士透露，美国总统奥巴马(Barack Obama)政府正在考虑一项计划，与私人部门合作收购问题资产，帮助银行清除坏帐。这一所谓的统合银行可能会从美国7,000亿美元金融部门救助基金获得部分资金，但绝大部分融资将来自于私人部门。私人公司将收购抵押贷款支持证券和其他问题资产，如果这些资产最终升值，它们将获得收益。Timothy Geithner这个想法目前还不确定会包括在最终计划中，但看起来这是解决当前一个核心问题的重要手段：即政府如何才能清除金融体系的问题资产？美国财政部长盖特纳(Timothy Geithner)的救助计划修订方案包括四个主要内容：向银行注入新股本；制定新计划帮助陷入困境的贷款购房者；扩大联邦储备委员会一项意在提振消费者贷款的项目；最后，制定一个机制允许银行卸下问题资产。最后这一部分已被证明是最为困难的，因为很难了解交易极为清淡的抵押贷款支持证券等资产该如何定价。如果政府支付过高的价格，就会损害纳税人利益令银行得利。但如果价格过低，银行就得被迫进行与这些资产相关的进一步资产减计，从而加剧它们的财务问题。美国政府此前已经讨论了政府直接收购银行资产的想法，但高昂的费用和操作复杂性使得这一计划基本被束之高阁。一些政府官员认为，通过私人部门行事是更好的解决方案，因为这可以让市场而不是政府来制定资产价格。盖特纳将于周二发表演说，公布政府的金融救助计划。最近几周，随着决策者就各种救助手段的优点进行争论，救助计划在不断变化。奥巴马政府已经花费了比许多人预计更长的时间来敲定救助计划，致力于制定一个所谓的综合方案来取代上届政府的临时性方案。预计盖特纳会将救助计划宣传为直抵本源化解金融危机的主体框架；动摇银行信心的违约贷款和问题资产就是危机的本源。上周六，盖特纳与美国民主党众议员在弗吉尼亚州进行了为期三天的政策会议。众议院金融服务委员会(House Financial Services Committee)委员北卡罗来纳州民主党众议员米勒(Brad Miller)说，盖特纳告诉他们，美国金融体系仍然严重受损。米勒说，盖特纳称形势显然会继续恶化，但我们必须采取对策防止状况变得更加糟糕。民主党官员称，盖特纳还在努力化解有关修改计划不会要求受援机构放贷的担忧情绪，这也是救助计划实施以来遭受的一个主要批评。盖特纳对议员们表示，接受援助的机构将必须参加贷款修订，符合我们制定的其他标准。公共援助是一种优惠，不是一种权利。去年秋天国会批准的7,000亿美元金融救助基金中，美国政府已经动用了3,500亿美元。许多经济学家──以及一些议员──预计政府最终会开口向国会申请更多资金。Deborah Solomon / Damian Paletta相关阅读美国会批评财政部救市成“冤大头” 2009-02-06高盛等急于偿还政府救助贷款 2009-02-05


The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama is considering a plan to help purge banks of their bad bets by partnering with the private sector to buy troubled assets, according to people familiar with the matter.The so-called aggregator bank would be seeded with some money from the U.S.'s $700 billion financial-sector bailout fund, but most of the financing would come from the private sector. Private firms would purchase mortgage-backed securities and other troubled assets and could reap the benefits if those assets eventually rise in value.The idea isn't yet certain to be included in the final plan, but it appears to be a leading solution to a central problem: How does the government rid the financial system of its toxic assets?The bailout revamp from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has four main components: fresh equity injections into banks; new programs to help struggling homeowners; an expansion of a Federal Reserve program designed to jump-start consumer lending; and, lastly, a mechanism to allow banks to dump their bad assets.That last component has proved the most nettlesome because it is hard to know how to value assets, such as mortgage-backed securities, that rarely trade. If the government pays too high a price, banks would benefit at the expense of taxpayers. But too low a price would force banks to take further write-downs associated with those assets, exacerbating their financial woes.The administration had discussed having the government buy assets directly from banks, but the costs and complexities involved with such a plan largely scuttled that effort.Some within the administration believe that a private-sector effort is preferable because it would allow asset prices to be set by the market instead of the government.Mr. Geithner is set to unveil the administration's financial-rescue plan in a speech Tuesday.The bailout plan has evolved in recent weeks as policy makers debated the merits of various approaches. The Obama administration has taken longer than some expected to finalize a plan as it sought to craft what it has called a 'comprehensive' approach to replace the ad hoc initiatives of the previous administration.The Treasury secretary is expected to sell the program as a framework to address the financial crisis by attacking its root causes: defaulting loans and rotten assets that are shaking confidence in banks.Mr. Geithner met with U.S. House Democrats Saturday at their three-day policy retreat in Williamsburg, Va., and he told them the U.S. financial system remains 'badly damaged,' said Rep. Brad Miller, a Democrat from North Carolina and a member of the House Financial Services Committee. 'He said it's clearly going to get worse, but we have to act to prevent it from getting much worse,' Mr. Miller said.According to Democratic officials, Mr. Geithner also sough to assuage concerns that the revamp wouldn't require aid recipients to lend the funds, one of the central criticisms of the rescue's implementation thus far. 'Institutions that get assistance will have to participate in loan modifications and meet other standards that we set,' he told the lawmakers. 'Public assistance is a privilege not a right.'The government has already committed $350 billion of the $700 billion financial-sector bailout fund approved by Congress last fall. Many economists -- and some lawmakers -- expect the administration to eventually ask Congress for more money.Deborah Solomon / Damian Paletta