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39-506: The Financial Stability Oversight Board was created to review and make recommendations regarding the Treasury's actions. Its purpose is to review the operation of TARP, to make recommendations to the Treasury for improvements, and to watch for fraud and misrepresentation. The FSOB also has the power to ensure that the Treasury follows policies in accordance with the Act and the economic interest of

78-494: A letter to President Obama stating that he would resign his post on March 30, 2011, to spend more time with his family. At the time of his resignation, his office had more than 140 investigations underway. By then, his office charged a few dozen people with civil or criminal fraud, resulting in 14 convictions, more than $ 550 million in fraud losses avoided, and $ 150 million in fraudulent earnings recovered for taxpayers. "[O]ne Treasury official, who spoke on condition of anonymity,

117-752: A substantial law-enforcement record. As of late 2013, SIGTARP had "pursued criminal charges against 107 senior bank officers, most of whom have been sentenced to prison." Main COP Reports Website: http://cop.senate.gov/reports/ Archived August 5, 2009, at the Wayback Machine Main SIGTARP ‘Reports & Audits’ Page: https://web.archive.org/web/20120529062723/http://www.sigtarp.gov/pages/reportsaudits.aspx Main GAO reports website: http://www.gao.gov/docsearch/featured/financialmarketsandhousing.html Archived July 15, 2009, at

156-667: Is appointed by the President of the United States with the advice and consent of the United States Senate . During a vacancy, the United States Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to appoint an Acting Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Stability. The position was abolished after Timothy Massad . Neil Barofsky Neil M. Barofsky (born 1970), a partner in

195-428: Is not clear whether the requirement to report after 30 days from "first asset purchase" has been violated. On December 8, 2009, the government's financial bailout program concluded in a year-end review that, despite flaws and lingering problems, the program “can be credited with stopping an economic panic.” Also on this date, Rep. Jeb Hensarling stepped down from the panel, submitting his letter of resignation. Hensarling

234-599: Is the Inspector General of the US Department of the Treasury and was originally responsible for the oversight of the TARP but expressed concerns about the difficulty of properly overseeing the complex program in addition to his regular responsibilities. Thorson called oversight of TARP a "mess" and later clarified this to say "The word 'mess' was a description of the difficulty my office would have in providing

273-410: Is to monitor, audit, and investigate TARP-related activities, including those of the Treasury in the administration of the program, and report findings to Congress every quarter. Christy Goldsmith Romero was sworn-in as the current Special Inspector General on April 9, 2012, having been nominated by President Obama on February 1, 2012, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on March 29, 2012. Eric Thorson

312-646: The Congressional Oversight Panel , told the Senate Banking Committee that during 2008, the federal government paid $ 254 billion for assets that were worth only $ 176 billion. On February 4, 2009, it was reported that during 2008, the companies that received bailout money had spent $ 114 million on lobbying and campaign contributions. These companies received $ 295 billion in bailout money. Sheila Krumholz , executive director of OpenSecrets , said of this information, "Even in

351-526: The Obama campaign ," was viewed as "one of the most impressive and courageous political officials in Washington" for his willingness to "stand up to some of the most powerful people and institutions in Washington or on Wall Street." He "vigilantly fought for his independence as TARP watchdog and has been relentless in his criticism of Treasury officials and especially Tim Geithner ." The TARP program money

390-717: The United States . SIGTARP agents are empowered to make arrests. The agency is currently engaged in 142 ongoing criminal and civil investigations, and it has already recovered assets worth $ 151.8 million. By the summer of 2010, SIGTARP agents were participating in raids alongside other U.S. law enforcement agencies. They worked with FBI agents in a raid on Colonial Bank in Orlando, Florida in an investigation into possible TARP-related fraud. In January 2012, Special Inspector General Romero said some $ 133 billion (~$ 175 billion in 2023) remained to be repaid by participants in

429-862: The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan as an independent monitor of the United Auto Workers (UAW) labor union, following a consent decree entered into by the UAW with the US Department of Justice following a corruption investigation. On February 15, 2024, Barofsky sent a letter to the UAW International Executive Board (IEB), forwarding a complaint from the Anti-Defamation League about

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468-562: The Wayback Machine Main TARP reports and transactions: http://www.financialstability.gov/latest/reportsanddocs.html Additional CBO reports citing TARP: http://www.cbo.gov/search/sitesearch.cfm?criteria=TARP Archived June 12, 2011, at the Wayback Machine A December 31, 2008, Associated Press article stated, "Government officials overseeing a $ 700 billion bailout have acknowledged difficulties tracking

507-578: The IEB issued its own ceasefire statement." New York State’s first-in-the-nation anti-BDS law requires state and local governments to divest from any group engaged in BDS calls. With the UAW representing public and graduate employees at public universities, the state could be forced to divest from the UAW’s pension and retirement funds, or possibly even not provide dues check-off for the union. New York State law has allowed

546-557: The Litigation Department of national law firm Jenner & Block LLP, focuses his practice on white collar investigations, complex commercial litigation , monitorships and examinerships. Immediately before joining Jenner & Block, Mr. Barofsky was Senior Fellow at New York University School of Law ’s Center on the Administration of Criminal Law, an adjunct professor at the law school, and affiliated with

585-724: The Mitchell Jacobson Leadership Program on Law and Business. He was the Treasury Department 's Special Inspector General (SIGTARP) overseeing the Troubled Assets Relief Program , from December 15, 2008, until his resignation on March 30, 2011. Before that, he was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 2000 to 2008. Since May 2021, Barofsky has served as

624-599: The TARP by President George W. Bush on November 14, 2008 and was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 8, 2008, after confirmation was delayed by Senator Jim Bunning . Until he was confirmed, the role was handled internally by the Treasury Department's inspector general, Eric Thorson , who had expressed concerns about the difficulty of properly overseeing the complex program in addition to his regular responsibilities. As Inspector General, Barofsky, "[a] life-long Democrat who donated money to

663-523: The Treasury Department's management of the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The panel was required to report their findings to Congress every 30 days, counting from the first asset purchase made under the program. The panel was also required to submit a special report to Congress about regulatory reform on or before January 20, 2009. The Congressional Oversight Panel was initially scheduled cease to exist on December 31, 2009, though it

702-848: The Treasury for Financial Stability was the head of the Office of Financial Stability in the United States Department of the Treasury . The position was created on October 3, 2008 by the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 , the act that created the Office of Financial Stability to administer the Troubled Asset Relief Program . By law, the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Stability

741-471: The U.S. It is to meet on a monthly basis and report to Congress and the Oversight Panel quarterly. The members of the board are: The Congressional Oversight Panel was mandated by Title 1, Section 125 of the TARP legislation as an "establishment in the legislative branch". The Congressional Oversight Panel was charged with the job of reviewing the state of the markets, current regulatory system, and

780-605: The UAW's demand for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war , with Barofsky noting, "Although this issue is outside of the Monitor’s jurisdiction, we thought it was important to forward the message to the IEB given the serious concerns raised here." Barofsky also noted in the letter that he had made an earlier call to UAW President Shawn Fain raising similar issues, adding, "For what it’s worth, as I previously shared with Shawn, similar concerns were raised directly to me shortly after

819-632: The bank refused to answer ABC News' questions about the cost of the event, a confidential source told ABC that the cost was approximately $ 10 million (~$ 13.8 million in 2023). At the Domestic Policy Subcommittee hearing of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee on March 11, 2009, XBRL was proposed as a mechanism for automating the data entry and processing of financial filings to aid in TARP oversight. Office of Financial Stability The Assistant Secretary of

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858-558: The best economic times, you won't find an investment with a greater payoff than what these companies have been getting." A February 2, 2009, ABC News article titled, "Bailed Out Bank of America Sponsors Super Bowl Fun Fest" stated that Bank of America sponsored a Super Bowl event at a five-star resort in Palm Beach , which was described as "... a five day carnival-like affair... 850,000 square feet of sports games and interactive entertainment attractions for football fans..." Although

897-528: The best way to evaluate the program. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the report's findings "discouraging" and stated that the report shows the program "is not accountable to American taxpayers." The EESA created the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), and the Special Inspector General is appointed by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The Special Inspector General's purpose

936-418: The close of business yesterday." A December 22, 2008 Associated Press article stated, "The Associated Press contacted 21 banks that received at least $ 1 billion in government money and asked four questions: How much has been spent? What was it spent on? How much is being held in savings, and what's the plan for the rest? None of the banks provided specific answers... Some banks said they simply didn't know where

975-527: The court-appointed monitor of United Auto Workers . Barofsky went to Spanish River High School in Boca Raton , Florida, and completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania , earning a bachelor's degree in economics from Wharton School of Business . He graduated with honors from New York University School of Law in 1995. Barofsky was nominated for the job of overseeing

1014-671: The investigation that resulted in the indictment of the top 50 leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on narcotics charges, a case described by the then Attorney General as the largest narcotics indictment filed in U.S. history. Under the leadership of Barofsky, the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program has quietly turned into a full-fledged financial law enforcement agency . It has 45 investigators who are empowered to carry guns and badges, and 27 vehicles with sirens and lights spread out in its branch offices across

1053-482: The money and assessing the program's effectiveness." A January 29, 2009 article from [3] stated, "Bloomberg News asked the Treasury Department Jan. 26 to disclose what securities it backed over the past two months in a second round of actions to prop up Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. Department spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said Jan. 27 she would seek an answer. None had been provided by

1092-495: The money was going." A review of investor presentations and conference calls by executives of some two dozen US-based banks by the New York Times found that "few [banks] cited lending as a priority. An overwhelming majority saw the bailout program as a no-strings-attached windfall that could be used to pay down debt, acquire other businesses or invest for the future." On February 5, 2009, Elizabeth Warren , chairperson of

1131-622: The program annually. The bill grants the Comptroller General access to all information, records, reports, data, etc. belonging to or in use by the program. On December 2, 2008, GAO released their first report on the bailout. Neel Kashkari, the OFS chairman, said in a letter to GAO that the department agrees with the report's findings and most of its recommendations but questioned GAO's suggestion to require more reporting from banks, saying gathering specifics from individual banks might not be

1170-407: The program, of which some at least is not likely ever to be repaid or recouped. That figure was offset partly by some $ 40.3 billion income and profits from repaid loans and investments; however new home-foreclosure bailout programs that could last as late as 2017 could also cost an additional $ 50 billion or more. SIGTARP has been described as having a staff of 170, an annual budget of $ 41 million, and

1209-462: The proper level of oversight of the TARP while handling its growing workload, including conducting audits of certain failed banks and thrifts at the same time that efforts are underway to nominate a special inspector general." [1] Neil Barofsky was nominated on November 14, 2008 by President George W. Bush to be the Special Inspector General. He was confirmed by the Senate on December 8, 2008, and

Oversight of the Troubled Asset Relief Program - Misplaced Pages Continue

1248-647: The state to strip unions of dues check-off if they violate state law. Having been sent a serious legal threat, Barofsky informed UAW President Shawn Fain of the threat in December and forwarded the letter from the ADL to the International Executive Board (IEB). On February 23, UAW lawyer Benjamin Dictor wrote a letter to Barofsky criticizing Barofsky's use of his position as UAW Monitor to pressure

1287-426: The union over its ceasefire stance, writing, "Your call to President Fain on an issue so blatantly outside of the Monitor’s jurisdiction was inappropriate as your Office holds disproportionate power over the UAW, and even a 'strictly personal' sharing of opinion implicitly implicates such power dynamic." On February 29, 2024, Barofsky wrote to the UAW, informing them that he was opening an investigation into Fain over

1326-477: Was later renewed through early 2011. The panel consisted of five outside experts appointed as follows: The first meeting of this board was held Wednesday, November 25, 2008, and elected Elizabeth Warren as the chairperson and Damon Silvers as deputy chairperson. As no assets had yet been purchased, ( OFS instead chose to provide $ 250 billion to banks through the Capital Purchase Program ) it

1365-410: Was quoted as saying "[H]e's been consistently wrong about a lot of big things." Commentator Glenn Greenwald noted the unnamed official had made the assertion about Barofsky "without identifying a single alleged error," and attacked the "utter cowardice and lack of professionalism needed to produce this passage" on the part of both the newspaper and the official. In May 2021, Barofsky was appointed by

1404-525: Was replaced by Mark McWatters, a Dallas lawyer and certified public accountant who has served as an advisor to Hensarling. On October 1, 2010, Senator Ted Kaufman of Delaware was appointed by Majority Leader Reid to replace Warren on the panel, as Warren resigned to focus on her duties at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau . Three days later, Kaufman was unanimously elected as the panel's second chairperson. Kaufman

1443-628: Was succeeded in Congress by Senator Chris Coons on November 15, 2010, but he remained chairperson of the Congressional Oversight Panel until its dissolution in 2011. The Comptroller General (director of the Government Accountability Office ) is required to monitor the performance of the program, and report findings to Congress every 60 days. The Comptroller General is also required to audit

1482-672: Was sworn into office on December 15, 2008. Barofsky stepped down from the post on March 30, 2011. Prior to assuming the position of Special Inspector General, Barofsky was a federal prosecutor in the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York for more than eight years. Barofsky received the Attorney General's John Marshall Award for his work on the Refco matter. Barofsky also led

1521-417: Was used to invest in, and in some cases rescue, a number of banks, the automakers GM and Chrysler, the insurance company AIG as well as a number of real estate companies. The role of the chief watchdog of the government's $ 700 billion TARP program was to root out and prosecute waste, fraud and abuse. Under Barofsky, the office published 9 quarterly results and 13 audits. On February 14, 2011, Barofsky sent

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