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Greek bailout program hits new roadblocks as IMF, E.U. officials break off talks - (www.bloomberg.com) International negotiators unexpectedly halted talks meant to release the next round of emergency loans to Greece as the country’s increasingly complex bailout program threatened to founder on several fronts. Greece’s recession is deepening, and Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said at a news conference in Athens on Friday that it may last through next year — despite forecasts from the International Monetary Fund and others that growth would resume. As a result, the country may miss the targets for lowering government deficits included in a joint IMF and European Union bailout. While Venizelos, according to wire service reports, said the emerging budget gap could be met without more spending cuts or tax increases, IMF and European officials broke off the talks while Greek officials work on their budget for next year. The group had hoped to complete its latest review of Greece by Sept. 5, in time to disburse more than $10 billion slated to go to the country later this month. The IMF said the talks should resume in mid-September.
Nevada Says Bank Broke Mortgage Settlement - (www.nytimes.com) The attorney general of Nevada is accusing Bank of America of repeatedly violating a broad loan modification agreement it struck with state officials in October 2008 and is seeking to rip up the deal so that the state can proceed with a suit against the bank over allegations of deceptive lending, marketing and loan servicing practices. In a complaint filed Tuesday in United States District Court in Reno, Catherine Cortez Masto, the Nevada attorney general, asked a judge for permission to end Nevada’s participation in the settlement agreement. This would allow her to sue the bank over what the complaint says were dubious practices uncovered by her office in an investigation that began in 2009. In her filing, Ms. Masto contends that Bank of America raised interest rates on troubled borrowers when modifying their loans even though the bank had promised in the settlement to lower them. The bank also failed to provide loan modifications to qualified homeowners as required under the deal, improperly proceeded with foreclosures even as borrowers’ modification requests were pending and failed to meet the settlement’s 60-day requirement on granting new loan terms, instead allowing months and in some cases more than a year to go by with no resolution, the filing says.
Grandpa still works, kids can't find jobs - (money.cnn.com) Good video...
Debt after death: Banks chase down mourners - (money.cnn.com) Nobody wants to remember a deceased family member by the debt they left behind, but many creditors certainly make it difficult to forget. Denise Townley was appalled when she received a letter from her mother's credit card issuer less than two weeks after her mother passed away. "We have recently learned that [your mother], a valued Discover Card customer, has passed away. Please accept our sincere apologies," stated the letter from Discover, which Townley sent to CNNMoney. It then offered her or another family member the "opportunity" to assume the balance on her mother's credit card and offered a special introductory APR of 0% for the first six months (the APR would increase to 13.24% after that). If Townley wasn't interested in taking over the account, then the bank wished to discuss how the estate planned to pay off her mother's credit card balance. Confused and concerned that she was on the hook for her mother's debt, Townley called Discover. When she asked a probate specialist there how they knew her mother had passed away, she was told that Social Security furnished the information. "I find this not only ethically abhorrent, but also irresponsible and insensitive on both parties' parts," said Townley.
Gibson Guitar CEO fights back - (money.cnn.com) After another raid by federal agents last week, CEO Henry Juszkiewicz is fuming. Gibson Guitar CEO Henry Juszkiewicz is fuming. As he sees it, his company, the iconic maker of the Les Paul and Firebird X electronic guitars, is being unjustly attacked by the federal government. On Aug. 24, armed agents from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service raided two of Gibson's Tennessee production facilities and its Nashville headquarters. The agents confiscated nearly $1 million in rare Indian ebony, finished guitars and electronic data, according to Juszkiewicz. It was the second time in two years that Gibson's factories have been raided by the feds over the rare woods it uses to build its guitars. "It was a nightmare," said Juszkiewicz. "We had people sitting there making guitars. We had no weapons." Given that the company was already dealing with the government on an earlier investigation, he said the feds should have worked with the company to make sure its procedures were in compliance. The company has always made a good-faith effort to follow the law, he said. But now Juszkiewicz isn't feeling so cooperative. The latest raid revolves around a trade issue. The wood was allegedly exported illegally because it was unfinished and too thick to be a veneer, the only unfinished wood India allows to be shipped, according to a Justice Department affidavit.
Europe faces week of challenges in debt crisis - (www.reuters.com)
Italy minister says no pressure on ECB over bonds - (www.reuters.com)
Euro bond would get weakest member's rating: S&P - (www.reuters.com)
Dollar Debt Drops Most Since 2008 on Loan Jitters: China Credit - (www.bloomberg.com)
Greece, EU/IMF talks on hold, at odds over deficit - (www.reuters.com)
Wildlife refuges' funding endangered
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