No plans to borrow: The head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. says there are no immediate plans to borrow money from the Treasury Department to shore up the shrinking deposit insurance fund. With bank failures surging, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. says the insurance fund fell 20% to $10.4 billion in the second quarter as U.S. banks overall lost $3.7 billion. Asked about a possibility of tapping the Treasury, FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair says: “Not at this point in time. I never say ‘never,’ but not at this point in time, no.” At the same time, Bair reaffirmed the likelihood of an additional fee on U.S. banks this year to help replenish the fund.
Leave me alone: Many of those annoying prerecorded telemarketing calls will be history starting Sept. 1. The Federal Trade Commission says it is banning robocalls to consumers, unless the telemarketer has written permission from a customer that he or she wants to receive these calls. Violators will face penalties of up to $16,000 per call. But there are exceptions. Calls that are not trying to sell goods and services to consumers will be exempt, such as those that provide information like flight cancellations and delivery notices and those from debt collectors. Other calls not covered by the Telemarketing Sales Rule include those from politicians, charities that contact consumers directly, banks, insurers, phone companies, survey calls and certain health care messages such as prescription notifications. These don’t fall under the jurisdiction of the FTC, a commission spokesman said.
