This Week in ESG and Impact Investing

1. Topic: TARP Accountability: Use of Federal Assistance by the First TARP Recipients 2. Date and Time: Feb 11, 2009, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm 3. Place: 2128 and 2172 Rayburn House Office Building 4. Chairman: Mr. Barney Frank, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee 5. Witness List: Mr. Lloyd C. Blankfein, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, Goldman Sachs and Co. Mr. James Dimon, Chief Executive Officer, JPMorgan Chase and Co. Mr. Robert P. Kelly, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Bank of New York Mellon Mr. Ken Lewis, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Bank of America Mr. Ronald E. Logue, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, State Street Corporation Mr. John J. Mack, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Morgan Stanley Mr. Vikram Pandit, Chief Executive Officer, Citigroup Mr. John Stumpf, President and Chief Executive Officer, Wells Fargo and Co. Eight bank CEOs from companies receiving the first TARP funds testified before the House Financial Services Committee. All t...

Today, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner introduced the Financial Stability Plan . Our comments below: The main features are the creation of: a. the Financial Stability Trust b. the Public-Private Investment Fund c. the Consumer Lending Initiative d. the Foreclosure Prevention Plan e. the Small Business Lending Initiative The Financial Stability Trust is a "Capital Pool" designed to serve as a buffer to help absorb losses. (Funny, we proposed the same thing for community banks in an application we submitted to Treasury for New Markets Tax Credits. We were not, however, funded. Looks like we need to be, well, non-minority..and to have caused massive damage to the global economy in a thoroughly unethical way. But I digress..) This is a rebranding/repackaging of the current Capital Purchase Program (CPP). In fact, all bank investments made over the past few months will be held in the "Trust". As part of this "Pool", banks over $100 billion will have to und...

We note the Obama Administration named it's Economic Recovery Advisory Board today. While we are hopeful, we are not happy. This board will probably need to be modified before living up to it's potential. Here are it's members: Chairman - Paul Volcker. Upside - Solid. The best there is. Should have remained Fed Chair. Downside - a little long in the tooth. (This is not age discrimination. Technology has much to do with this recession.) Staff Director and Chief Economist. Austan Goolsbee - Probably not helpful. Chicago Economist...and they basically sank us into this mess. At least he is at the staff level. Members - William H. Donaldson, Chairman, SEC (2003-2005). Solid. Called for market reform a long, long time ago. Ran a great firm, DLJ. Roger W. Ferguson, Jr., President & CEO, TIAA-CREF. Solid. Next to Volcker, the best there is. The guy who saved the economy on September 11, 2001. (See "Bernanke's Fumbles Suggest Deeper Problems," originally posted o...

According to the US Treasury, "Among the most recent banks to receive Treasury funding was Legacy Bancorp of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a CDFI founded by African-American women and one of the fastest growing community banks in the nation. CDFIs such as Legacy provide vital credit and financial services to low-income areas that are often unavailable from commercial banks." Our list of minority banks getting TARP Capital now includes: Asian $936 Cathay General Bancorp $258 Center Financial Corp $55 East West Bancorp Inc $306 Pacific City Financial Corp. $16 Saigon National $2 UCBH Holdings Inc $299 Black $45 Broadway Financial Corp. $9 Carver Bancorp, Inc $19 OneUnited Bank $12 Legacy Bancorp, Inc. $5 Hispanic $1,551 First Bancorp $400 International Bancshares Corp $216 Popular Inc $935 Gran...