Here’s what we know so far about the plans for the US banking system that Tim Geithner will unveil next week.

1. The heart of the scheme will, most likely, be an insurance arrangement, in which the government (part Treasury and mostly Fed) insures a big part of large banks’ portfolio of toxic assets against further loss.  The devil is in the pricing of this insurance and how transparent that is – and we will put out more on this shortly – but the clear signal so far is that this will be a veiled major recapitalization of banks at taxpayer expense.
2. As announced yesterday, the government will set restrictions on the pay of executives in banks that participate.  But note that, under these rules, bonuses are not restricted.  Instead, they are just deferred and paid in shares.  In other words, if there is cheap recapitalization through government-provided insurance, these executives are getting an incredibly good deal. Continue reading “Insuring Bankers’ Bonuses” →