Obama Looks To Target Banks With New Fees

Banks that received money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program may soon face a fee as the government seeks to recoup more of the taxpayer capital spent to bring the financial system back from the brink of destruction. The fee could even hit banks that have already paid back TARP.

No official decision has been made on the proposal or what may be included in the potential fees, but it is expected to be included in the next month's budget.

One option includes placing a fee on a bank's liabilities, according to the Wall Street Journal. Another would be to put fees on bank's profits.

The move comes as banks are set to pay out big bonuses to top executives after regaining some stability with the government’s help.

The public is hotly criticizing the allocation of money by these banks to bonuses after it was the taxpayer dollars that had bailed them out in the first place, especially with the unemployment rate at the high level it is at.

Congress has suggested that the taxpayers would best benefit from Wall Street resurgence if the government taxes a wide range of transactions by banks. The proposal would require international coordination to be effective according to the Treasury Department.

It is not clear if congressional approval would be required to make this move by the government possible. The original TARP does provide a way for the government to get banks to repay the taxpayer money.

Related Stocks:
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC)
Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC)
Citigroup (NYSE: C)
Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS)
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS)
JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM)

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