Fed To Name Banks That Received Emergency Loans
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve plans to release documents on Thursday identifying financial companies that received Fed loans to survive the financial crisis.
The central bank is being forced to take the action because commercial banks had lost a court battle to keep the information private. The Fed had argued that releasing the names of banks that drew the emergency loans could cause a run on them, defeating the purpose of the program.
At its peak during the crisis in the fall of 2008, the Fed loaned as much as $110 billion through its "discount" loan window.
The program provides low-cost loans to banks when they can't obtain financing from private sources. During the crisis, the Fed temporarily extended the program to investment houses.
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