PayThink

If you like your loose ends tied up or you're one of those "closure" people, then you're feeling a might uncomfortable right now, especially if you were at CUNA's Governmental Affairs Conference last week.

There´s no escaping the fact that Citigroup is now essentially under government control, but its fate isn´t turning out to be as black as some observers had feared. Now it´s capitalized, with a more respectable market value and a satisfying level of tangible common equity, not to mention a solid Tier 1 capital ratio. As the market prepared to open this morning, it was clear that Citi shareholders weren´t going to have a happy Friday but they may be the only group with something to complain about following the conversion of part of the government´s preferred stake into common shares.

The new Treasury Department is turning out to be quite particular about how its programs are labeled.

Have lawmakers become a new market force? The past week of wild stock-price swings that dropped bank share prices down to 20-year lows has whipped up a hum of comments from market observers about the power of voices on Capitol Hill.

At this morning´s in-and-out press event at the Treasury Department, we noticed a funny thing: the prominent role given James Lockhart, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. He´s one high-profile Republican appointee who doesn´t appear to be headed out the door anytime soon.

"It doesn´t matter what the banks do...It´s the public sector decisions that are going to matter."

Stress tests are looking more appealing after the reassurances Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke offered yesterday during his testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, but there are still plenty of observers out there hoping the government´s rescue plan will move more quickly. Among the suggestions for improving the plan are quicker disposal of toxic assets; clearer, more detailed announcements; and changes to accounting rules.

What do community bankers really think of the government´s financial rescue efforts? One told Newark Star-Ledger reporter Joseph R. Perone that Congress should take more time and listen to more input before making any new moves to try to help banks.

The plans are out, and now it's time to get to work. The Treasury Department will be busy this week coming up wtih a package of details on how to implement its foreclosure prevention program, as well as its less-advanced financial rescue package. Will we see progress on the public-private partnership? That seems to be what many market participants are anxious to know. Meanwhile, Congress returns. And they haven't forgotten about executive compensation or Tarp accountability.

We've got to hand it to them ... Fox Business News sued the Treasury Department for failing to comply with Fox's Freedom of Information Act requests in November and December of 2008. Today they won.