Quote from chartman:
"This administration continues to strongly believe that a privately held banking system is the correct way to go, ensuring that they are regulated sufficiently by this government," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said when asked about nationalizing the banks.
It's official. Nationalization will probably happen within the next month. Beware C and BAC stockholders. You are forewarned!
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The federal government is in talks to beef up its ownership stake in Citigroup to as much as 40 percent of the company's common stock, the Wall Street Journal reported Sundayâjust days after the Obama administration said it didn't want to nationalize America's largest banks.
Citigroup proposed the move to regulators, the Journal reported, and a Treasury Department spokesman signaled late Sunday that the government is open to the idea, even as he refused to discuss Citi directly.
Treasury spokesman Isaac Baker told POLITICO: "We don't comment on conversations with specific banks. However. we are open to considering a request to [convert preferred stock to common shares] if the institution and its regulator believe it would promote the long term stability of that institution, and if we believe it's in the best interest of long term stability of our economy and financial system."
That represents a dramatic change of tone from White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs on Friday. "This administration continues to strongly believe that a privately held banking system is the correct way to go, ensuring that they are regulated sufficiently by this government," Gibbs said at the time. "That's been our belief for quite some time
