Thursday, January 14, 2010

Banks, experts eye possible ways around Obama fee

"That is already the case with U.S. President Barack Obama's proposed fee on banks, designed to ensure that Wall Street banks pay up to $117 billion to reimburse taxpayers for the financial bailout: Bankers, lawyers and consultants are already considering ways to avoid paying the fee.

"This law could be a real boon for lawyers and consultants like me. There are tremendous opportunities for coming up with new mechanisms to avoid it," said Bert Ely, a bank consultant in Alexandria, Virginia.

The fee idea has been public for only a matter of hours, so it is tough to say precisely how to avoid it. Final wording is a long way off as the proposal wends its way through the legislative process."

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