FDIC Chief Got Bank of America Loans While Working On Its Rescue

[StarfarerBill]

Agency Grants Sheila Bair Retroactive Ethics Waiver on Mortgages

By Keith Epstein and David Heath, Huffington Post Investigative Fund

Sheila Bair, one of the chief regulators overseeing Bank of America’s federal rescue, took out two mortgages worth more than $1 million from the banking giant last summer during ongoing negotiations about the bank’s bailout and its repayment.

In the weeks between the closings on her two mortgage loans, Bair met with Bank of America’s chief negotiator in the bailout talks.

To avoid conflicts of interest, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which Bair heads, prohibits employees from participating in “any particular matter” involving a bank from which they are seeking a loan.

Bair did not seek or receive an exemption until last week, when her agency gave her a retroactive waiver from the rules after an inquiry by the Huffington Post Investigative Fund.

FDIC officials said there was no link between Bair’s duties and her mortgages. They also contend that even without the waiver Bair violated no ethics rules. Moreover, the FDIC said, Bair received no preferential treatment for either loan, paying interest rates at or above the national average.

However, the circumstances surrounding the mortgage on Bair’s house in Amherst, Mass., raise questions about whether she and her husband should have qualified for the terms they received.

More:
http://huffpostfund.org/stories/2010/01/fdic-chief-got-bank-america-loans-while-working-its-rescue

[amborin]

1. yep,

saw this too, really sad

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. I wonder how many other Fed. employees got deals?

We know Dodd did.
Now Bair.
Anyone know how to look up the mortgages for, say, Geithner, or Bernanke, or the SEC head?

[notesdev]

3. The Bush Legacy

it's the gift that keeps on giving.