Legislation Approved by Committee Prohibiting Bonus Payments to TARP Recipients

The House Financial Services Committee approved legislation which would prohibit the payment of bonus money by companies which have received funds directly from the TARP program and the Housing and Economic Recovery Act until these investments are repaid.The bill, H.R. 1664, the Grayson-Himes Pay for Performance Act of 2009, prohibits any compensation payments that are unreasonable or excessive, restricts all non-performance based bonuses, and effectively repeals a controversial provision in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The Committee passed the legislation by a vote of 38-22.The bill is co-sponsored by Congressman Alan Grayson (D-FL) and Congressman Jim Himes (D-CT).The bill adds new compensation/bonus restrictions to the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act for financial institutions...

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Treasury Releases CDFI Action Plan

The Department of Treasury released its implementation plan for the funds provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the Recovery Act) and administered by the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI).The Recovery Act waives the matching fund requirement from non-Federal resources and the general requirement that no single awardee can receive more than $5 million from the fund over a five-year period. As a result, 2009 awards will be made in the form of grants versus matching funds.The CDFI fund will provide approximately $145 million in financial assistance awards in 2009. The awards will increase to up to $2 million under the financial assistance component. Previously the awards were capped at $1 million. It is anticipated that more awardees will receive...

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