News release: “The Federal Trade Commission has charged seven related companies with violating federal law by falsely promising to remove negative information from consumers credit reports, even information that is accurate and current, and by charging an up-front fee and failing to provide written disclosures. The agency seeks to make them stop the violations and… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: March 2009
Geothermal Heat Pump Manufacturing Activities
Energy Information Administration – Geothermal Heat Pump Manufacturing Activities (03/17/2009): “Information in this report indicates that the 2007 total geothermal heat pump shipments surged 36 percent to 86,396 units, while capacity shipped rose 19 percent to 291,300 tons. While 2007 capacity growth was substantial, it was below growth in 2006, which was 53 percent. Total… Continue Reading
NY AG Cuomo Releases Details on AIG Bonuses to Financial Services Committee
Letter to Rep. Barney Frank from Andrew M. Cuomo, Attorney General of the State of New York re: AIG 2008 Retention Bonuses “We learned over the weekend that AIG had, last Friday, distributed more than $160 million in retention payments to members of its Financial Products Subsidiary, the unit of AIG that was principally responsible… Continue Reading
Total Public Debt Now Over $11 Trillion
03/16/2009, TreasuryDirect, The Debt to the Penny and Who Holds It Current Debt Held by the Public: 6,741,972,565,592.27 Intragovernmental Holdings: 4,291,185,013,077.51 Total Public Debt Outstanding: 11,033,157,578,669.78 CBS News: “And the government is running up mountains of debt with increasing speed. It took just over 5½ months for Uncle Sam to go another trillion dollars deeper… Continue Reading
IRS Commissioner's Senate Finance Testimony on Ponzi Schemes and Offshore Tax Evasion Legislation
Prepared Testimony of Doug Shulman, Commissioner Internal Revenue Service, Before the Senate Finance Committee on Tax Issues Related to Ponzi Schemes and an Update on Offshore Tax Evasion Legislation, March 17, 2009 “The IRS is issuing two guidance items to assist taxpayers who are victims of losses from Ponzi-type investment schemes. While I recognize that… Continue Reading
FinCEN Report Shows Connection With Mortgage Fraud and Other Financial Crime
News release: “The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) today released a new report, Mortgage Loan Fraud Connections with Other Financial Crime: An Evaluation of Suspicious Activity Reports Filed By Money Services Businesses, Securities and Futures Firms, Insurance Companies and Casinos, that shows subjects reported for suspected mortgage loan fraud may also be involved in other… Continue Reading
Phishing Scams, Frivolous Arguments Top the 2008 Dirty Dozen Tax Scams
News release: “The Internal Revenue Service issued its 2008 list of the 12 most egregious tax schemes and scams, highlighted by Internet phishing scams and several frivolous tax arguments. Topping this years list of scams is phishing, which encompasses numerous Internet-based ploys to steal financial information from taxpayers. New to the Dirty Dozen this year… Continue Reading
DOJ Posts Summaries of New FOIA Decisions
Summaries of New Decisions — February 2009(posted 03/12/2009) Summaries of New Decisions — January 2009 (posted 03/12/2009) Summaries of New Decisions — December 2008 (posted 03/12/2009) Office of Information Policy (OIP) (posted 03/11/2009) Continue Reading
Treasury and SBA: Unlocking Credit for Small Businesses Fact Sheet
News release: “Today, as part of an effort Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner first outlined in introducing the Financial Stability Plan (FSP) in February, we are taking immediate action to help ensure that credit the lifeblood of America’s small businesses and its economy gets flowing again to entrepreneurs and business owners. As another part… Continue Reading
New GAO Reports: SBA Documenting Credit, Missile Defense Components, State's Passport Issuance Process
Small Business Administration: Additional Guidance on Documenting Credit Elsewhere Decisions Could Improve 7(a) Program Oversight, GAO-09-228, February 12, 2009 Defense Acquisitions: Production and Fielding of Missile Defense Components Continue with Less Testing and Validation Than Planned, GAO-09-338, March 13, 2009 Department of State: Undercover Tests Reveal Significant Vulnerabilities in State’s Passport Issuance Process, GAO-09-447, March… Continue Reading
SEC Approves Exemptions Allowing Chicago Mercantile Exchange to Operate as Central Counterparty for Credit Default Swaps
News release: “The Securities and Exchange Commission took further action to help increase the transparency of credit default swaps by approving conditional exemptions that will allow the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. (CME) to operate as a central counterparty for clearing them. These conditional exemptions, based on a request by the CME and Citadel Investment Group… Continue Reading
Seattle Post Intelligencer Announces Last Print Edition Is Tuesday
“The Hearst Corp. announced Monday that it would stop publishing the 146-year old newspaper, Seattle’s oldest business, and cease delivery to more than 117,600 weekday readers. The company, however, said it would maintain seattlepi.com, making it the nation’s largest daily newspaper to shift to an entirely digital news product.” Continue Reading
