Frank: Stricter Rules For Bailout
If you're among them, Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts has a message for you: this time is different.
A day after grilling eight bank CEOs at a Capitol Hill hearing, Frank, the head of the House Financial Services Committee, told CBS' The Early Show that the Obama administration will impose stricter oversight on bailout funds than the Bush administration.
Financial institutions that receive federal TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) funds will also have to accept compensation restrictions and will be hit with legal penalties if they fail to comply, according to Frank.
"If they get the money, they are legally bound to follow certain rules," said Frank. "In the same way that if you do things you shouldn't do, you're subject to legal penalties."
Frank faulted the Bush administration for not doing enough to limit compensation packages and help homeowners when it released the first $350 billion in funds.
The story will be different under Mr. Obama, according to Frank. The congressman said that the release of the next $350 billion in TARP funds would be dispensed with a greater emphasis on reducing foreclosures.
Frank also said that banks would be required to show the government a plan for how they intended to increase lending.
"I think the error is to assume that because the Bush administration resisted compensation restrictions, resisted a requirement that refused to do anything about foreclosures or make sure that these people lent more money, that the Obama administration will do the same," said Frank. "In fact, the Obama administration is behaving very differently."
You can watch the whole interview below: