Terror Vision

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — President Obama called on Congress to approve a financial-aid overhaul that for the first time would tie federal financing to colleges and universities to the success of these institutions in improving affordability and value for students.

Wrapping up a three-day post State of the Union tour that has forecast Mr. Obama’s narrative for his re-election battle with Republicans, Mr. Obama said it was the governments obligation to narrow the gap between rich and poor. He proposed a $1 billion grant competition to reward states that take action to keep college costs down, and a separate $55 million competition for colleges to increase their value and efficiency.

“I am only standing here because scholarships and student loans gave me a shot at a decent education,” Mr. Obama told the crowd at the Ann Arbor campus of the University of Michigan, where students braved early-morning snow to stand in line to see the president.

“Your president and your first lady were in your shoes just a few years ago,” Mr. Obama said. “We didn’t come from wealthy families. The only reason we were able to achieve what we achieved was because of education.”

Mr. Obama’s proposal would also require colleges and universities to offer students a comparison that shows postgraduate and employment records for their institutions.

As is typically the case when the president speaks on a college campus, the event was high energy, complete with a marching band playing fight songs to warm the crowd up beforehand. And Mr. Obama, who is clearly already in campaign mode, was revved up. He further lit up the crowd with the obligatory “Go Blue” cheer.

“Easy applause line,” he acknowledged.

“We want this to be a big bold generous country where everybody gets a shot,” Mr. Obama told the crowd in the Al Glick Field House. “If there’s anywhere that can teach us about how to bring back manufacturing, it’s the great state of Michigan.”

One night after a Republican debate that saw Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney beating each other up on everything from immigration to personal finances, the president, without mentioning either man, still sought to draw a comparison between his vision for the country and the Republican vision, which he painted as more of a fend-for-yourself one.

ELLWOOD CITY, Pa., Jan 27, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) –
ESB Financial Corporation

/quotes/zigman/67481/quotes/nls/esbf ESBF
-0.35%

, the parent company of ESB
Bank, today announced earnings of $1.02 per diluted share on net income
of $14.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2011, which represents
a 4.1% increase in net income per diluted share as compared to earnings
of $0.98 per diluted share on net income of $14.2 million for the year
ended December 31, 2010. The Company’s return on average assets and
return on average equity were 0.76% and 8.40%, respectively, for the
year ended December 31, 2011 compared to 0.73% and 8.26%, respectively,
for the year ended December 31, 2010.

For the three months ended December 31, 2011, the Company announced
earnings of $0.21 per diluted share on net income of $3.0 million, which
represents an 8.7% decrease in net income per diluted share as compared
to earnings of $0.23 per diluted share on net income of $3.4 million for
the quarter ended December 31, 2010. The Company’s annualized return on
average assets and return on average equity were 0.61% and 6.65%,
respectively, for the quarter ended December 31, 2011 compared to 0.71%
and 7.86%, respectively, for the quarter ended December 31, 2010.

Commenting on the quarter and year end results, Charlotte A. Zuschlag,
President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, stated, “The Board
of Directors, senior management and I are pleased with the record
earnings for the year ended December 31, 2011, making 2011 the third
consecutive year that the Company has reported record earnings.” Ms.
Zuschlag continued, “The past several years have presented a challenging
time for the banking industry. Our philosophy has been to manage the
interest rate margin without compromising asset quality or future
earnings potential while continuing to offer quality products to our
customers. We accomplished this philosophy by challenging our employees
to actively pursue new customers through commercial, public and personal
checking account relationships. The results continue to be outstanding.
The overall deposit growth for the year ended December 31, 2011 was
$143.8 million or 14.2% when compared to December 31, 2010. Included in
the $143.8 million is growth of approximately $111.0 million in low cost
core deposits.” Ms. Zuschlag continued by stating “these results as well
as the prior year growth of approximately $51.2 million in core deposits
has fueled the improvement to our cost of funds which decreased 39 basis
points to 2.00% when compared to 2.39% for the year ended December 31,
2010 and has contributed towards our ability to maintain our net
interest margin which increased slightly in 2011 to 2.67% when compared
to 2.62% at December 31, 2010. This steadfast policy in managing and
growing our interest rate margin has minimized the effect of impairment
related charges on securities and joint ventures on our income in 2011.”
Ms. Zuschlag concluded by stating, “Management will continue to strive
to pursue investment and growth opportunities that will provide a sound
investment return to our shareholders, such as the recent construction
of our 25th office in Cranberry Township, Butler County,
which opened in the fourth quarter of 2011.”

Consolidated net income for the year ended December 31, 2011 increased
$679,000 or 4.8% to $14.9 million from $14.2 million as compared to the
year ended December 31, 2010. This increase was a result of an increase
in net interest income of $1.1 million as well as decreases in provision
for loan losses and income taxes of $274,000 and $173,000, respectively,
partially offset by a decrease in noninterest income of $161,000 and
increases in noninterest expense and noncontrolling interest of $249,000
and $478,000, respectively.

Consolidated net income for the quarter ended December 31, 2011
decreased $417,000 to $3.0 million from $3.4 million, as compared to the
quarter ended December 31, 2010. This net decrease was the result of a
decrease in noninterest income of $1.6 million and increases in
provision for loan losses and noncontrolling interest of $30,000 and
$14,000, respectively, partially offset by an increase in net interest
income of $553,000 and decreases in noninterest expense and provision
for income taxes of $83,000 and $624,000, respectively.

The decrease in noninterest income for the quarter ended December 31,
2011 was primarily the result of impairment charges on real estate joint
ventures, investment securities and derivatives of approximately $1.3
million, $364,000 and $148,000, respectively, as well as decreases in
fees and service charges and net gain on sale of loans of $62,000 and
$25,000. During the quarter ended December 31, 2010, the Company’s real
estate joint ventures had net income of $116,000 after incurring write
downs of $750,000 related to land acquisition and development costs as
well as unit construction costs.

The Company’s consolidated total assets increased $50.9 million, or
2.7%, to $1.96 billion at December 31, 2011, from $1.91 billion at
December 31, 2010. Securities increased $52.4 million, or 4.9%, to $1.1
billion and net loans receivable increased $8.0 million, or 1.3%, to
$648.9 million. Total liabilities increased $39.2 million, or 2.2%, to
$1.8 billion at December 31, 2011. Deposits increased $143.8 million, or
14.2%, to $1.2 billion at December 31, 2011 while borrowed funds
decreased $108.5 million, or 15.2%, to $607.0 million.

Total stockholders’ equity was $179.1 million or 9.11% of total assets,
and book value per share was $12.34 at December 31, 2011 compared to
$167.4 million or 8.74% of total assets, and book value per share of
$11.63 at December 31, 2010.

The Company also announced that its annual meeting of stockholders will
be held on Wednesday, April 18, 2012 at 4:00 p.m. at the Connoquenessing
Country Club in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania.

ESB Financial Corporation is the parent holding company of ESB Bank, and
offers a wide variety of financial products and services through 25
offices in the contiguous counties of Allegheny, Lawrence, Beaver and
Butler in Pennsylvania. The common stock of the Company is traded on The
NASDAQ Stock Market under the symbol “ESBF”. We make available on our
web site, which is located at
http://www.esbbank.com ,
our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and
current reports on Form 8-K, on the date which we electronically file
these reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Investors are
encouraged to access these reports and the other information about our
business and operations on our web site.

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements with
respect to the financial condition, results of operations and business
of the Company. Forward-looking statements are subject to various
factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from these
estimates. These factors include, but are not limited to, changes in
general economic conditions, interest rates, deposit flows, loan demand,
competition, legislation or regulation and accounting principles,
policies or guidelines, as well as other economic, competitive,
governmental, regulatory and accounting and technological factors
affecting the Company’s operations.

ESB FINANCIAL CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
————————————————————————————————————–
Financial Highlights
Unaudited
(Dollars in Thousands – Except Per Share Amounts)
OPERATIONS DATA:
——————————————————————–
Year Ended Three Months
December 31, Ended December 31,
2011 2010 2011 2010
———- ———- ————— —————
Interest income $ 79,227 $ 84,864 $ 19,256 $ 20,207
Interest expense 35,140 41,897 8,300 9,804
—— —— ——— ———
Net interest income 44,087 42,967 10,956 10,403
Provision for loan losses 1,130 1,404 330 300
—— —— ——— ———
Net interest income after provision for
loan losses 42,957 41,563 10,626 10,103
Noninterest income 4,306 4,467 (59) 1,574
Noninterest expense 28,062 27,813 7,154 7,237
—— —— ——— ———
Income before provision for income taxes 19,201 18,217 3,413 4,440
Provision for income taxes 3,380 3,553 314 938
—— —— ——— ———
Net income 15,821 14,664 3,099 3,502
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interest 911 433 98 84
—— —— ——— ———
Net income attributable to ESB Financial Corporation $ 14,910 $ 14,231 $ 3,001 $ 3,418
== ====== == ====== ==== ========= ==== =========
Net Income per share:
Basic $ 1.03 $ 0.99 $ 0.21 $ 0.24
Diluted $ 1.02 $ 0.98 $ 0.21 $ 0.23
Net Interest Margin 2.67% 2.62% 2.64% 2.59%
Annualized return on average assets 0.76% 0.73% 0.61% 0.71%
Annualized return on average equity 8.40% 8.26% 6.65% 7.86%
FINANCIAL CONDITION DATA:
——————————————————————–
12/31/11 12/31/10
————— —————
Total assets $ 1,964,791 $ 1,913,867
Cash and cash equivalents 38,848 35,707
Total investment securities 1,130,116 1,077,672
Loans receivable, net 648,921 640,887
Customer deposits 1,156,410 1,012,645
Borrowed funds (includes subordinated debt) 606,960 715,456
Stockholders’ equity 179,075 167,353
Book value per share $ 12.34 $ 11.63
Average equity to average assets 9.08% 8.87%
Allowance for loan losses to loans receivable 0.98% 1.00%
Non-performing assets to total assets 0.88% 0.75%
Non-performing loans to total loans 2.00% 2.00%

SOURCE: ESB Financial Corporation

ESB Financial
Charles P. Evanoski, 724-758-5584
Group Senior Vice President
Chief Financial Officer

Copyright Business Wire 2012

/quotes/zigman/67481/quotes/nls/esbf

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ESBF

ESB Financial Corp.

$
14.21

-0.05
-0.35%

Volume: 13,707
Feb. 8, 2012 4:00p

The School District of Philadelphias new chief recovery officer responded Friday to the city controllers request for information about bridging a funding gap of at least $61 million by June 30.

But City Controller Alan Butkovitz said he was not sure whether the district fully had addressed his concerns about the school systems financial viability.

He said an initial review of the responses contained in the three-page letter from Recovery Officer Thomas E. Knudsen has done little to satisfy our concern, but there are ongoing written communications going back and forth to clarify our respective positions.

On Wednesday, Butkovitz said he might have to include a warning in the districts annual financial report that could hamper the districts ability to borrow money and sell bonds.

A government watchdog says US taxpayers are still owed $132.9 billion that companies havent repaid from the financial bailout — General Motors and financial firms — and some of that will never be recovered.

The bailout, launched at the height of the financial crisis in September 2008, will continue to exist for years, says a report from Christy Romero, the acting special inspector general for the $700 billion bailout, according to wire reports in the Detroit Free Press.

Some bailout programs, such as the effort to help homeowners avoid foreclosure by reducing mortgage payments, will last as late as 2017, costing the government an additional $51 billion or so.

The gyrating stock market has slowed the Treasury Departments efforts to sell off its stakes in 458 bailed-out companies, the report says:

They include insurer American International Group, GM and Ally Financial, the former GMAC, GMs credit arm.

If Treasury plans to sell its stock in the three companies at or above the price where taxpayers would break even on their investment — $28.73 a share for AIG, $53.98 for GM — it may take a long time for the market to rebound to that level, the report says. AIGs shares closed Wednesday at $25.31, while GM ended at $24.92. Ally isnt publicly traded.

It will also be challenging for the government to get out of the 458 companies as the market remains volatile and banks struggle keep afloat in the tough economy, it says.

Congress authorized $700 billion for the bailout of financial companies and automakers, and $413.4 billion was paid out. So far the government has recovered about $318 billion. The bailout is called the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP.

NEW YORK, Jan 27, 2012 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) –
AmTrust Financial Services, Inc.

/quotes/zigman/103831/quotes/nls/afsi AFSI
+2.80%

announced today that it plans to release fourth quarter and full year 2011 results prior to the market open on February 15, 2012. At 9:00 a.m. ET, CEO Barry Zyskind and CFO Ron Pipoly will review these results via a conference call and webcast that may be accessed as follows:

Toll-free Dial-in: 877.755.7421
Toll Dial-in (Outside the U.S.): 973.200.3087

http://ir.amtrustgroup.com/events.cfm

A replay of the conference call will be available starting at 12:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday, February 15, 2012 through Wednesday, February 22, 2012 by dialing toll-free 800.585.8367, for outside the U.S. 404.537.3406 and entering passcode 47923755. You may also access a replay of the webcast at

http://ir.amtrustgroup.com/events.cfm

About AmTrust Financial Services, Inc.

AmTrust Financial Services, Inc., a multinational insurance holding company headquartered in New York, NY, offers specialty property and casualty insurance products, including workers' compensation, commercial automobile and general liability; extended service and warranty coverage through its primary insurance subsidiaries rated "A" (Excellent) by A.M. Best. For more information visit
www.amtrustgroup.com , or call AmTrust toll-free at 866.203.3037.

The AmTrust Financial Services, Inc. logo is available at

http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=3280

AFSI-F

This news release was distributed by GlobeNewswire,
www.globenewswire.com

SOURCE: AmTrust Financial Services, Inc.

CONTACT: AmTrust Financial Services, Inc.
Elizabeth Malone CFA (beth.malone@amtrustgroup.com)
646.458.7924
Hilly Gross (hgross@amtrustgroup.com)
212.220.7120 ext. 7023

(C) Copyright 2010 GlobeNewswire, Inc. All rights reserved.

/quotes/zigman/103831/quotes/nls/afsi

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AFSI

AmTrust Financial Services Inc.

$
26.80

+0.73
+2.80%

Volume: 131,316
Feb. 3, 2012 4:00p

HONOLULU, Jan. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ –
Central Pacific Financial Corp.

/quotes/zigman/3903763/quotes/nls/cpf CPF
+1.52%

(the “Company”), parent company of Central Pacific Bank (“CPB”) (the “Bank”), today announced the appointment of Duane K. Kurisu to the CPF board of directors. Kurisu has served on the Bank board of directors since September 2004, and will continue to serve as a director of both the CPF and CPB boards.

Kurisu is involved in numerous and varied businesses and industries in Hawaii and abroad. He is a real estate investor and owns and manages office buildings, shopping centers, and industrial parks in Hawaii and Washington. He is also the Chairman, CEO, and owner of aio, a holding company for brands focused on Hawaii and the Pacific in the areas of media, sports, and food. The media group consists of: PacificBasin Communications, which publishes a variety of local publications; Watermark Publishing; Talisman LBS, a mobile software company; and Upspring Media, a digital media development and consulting company. KKEA 1420 AM, KHKA 1500 AM, B. Hayman Co., and Hawaii Winter Baseball comprises the sports group. Punaluu Bake Shop, Hukilau Restaurants in San Francisco, San Jose, and Hawaii, and Nutricopia, a nutraceutical company headquartered in Vermont are the principal companies in the food group.

Kurisu is also a director of Island Holdings and Oahu Publications and was a former Regent of the University of Hawaii. He also serves on the boards of numerous community organizations in Hawaii.

About Central Pacific Financial Corp.

Central Pacific Financial Corp. is a Hawaii-based bank holding company with approximately $4.1 billion in assets. Central Pacific Bank, its primary subsidiary, operates 34 branches, 120 ATMs, and a residential mortgage subsidiary in the state of Hawaii. For additional information, please visit the Company’s website at
http://www.centralpacificbank.com .

Forward-Looking Statements

This document may contain forward-looking statements concerning projections of revenues, income/loss, earnings/loss per share, capital expenditures, dividends, capital structure, or other financial items, concerning plans and objectives of management for future operations, concerning future economic performance, or concerning any of the assumptions underlying or relating to any of the foregoing. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts, and may include the words “believes,” “plans”,” “intends,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “forecasts,” “intends,” “hopes,” “should,” “estimates,” or words of similar meaning. While the Company believes that our forward-looking statements and the assumptions underlying them are reasonably based, such statements and assumptions are by their nature subject to risks and uncertainties, and thus could later prove to be inaccurate or incorrect. Accordingly, actual results could materially differ from projections for a variety of reasons, to include, but not limited to: the impact of local, national, and international economies and events, including natural disasters, on the Company’s business and operations and on tourism, the military, and other major industries operating within the Hawaii market and any other markets in which the Company does business; the impact of regulatory actions on the Company and the Bank including the Memorandum of Understanding entered into with the FDIC and the DFI on May 5, 2011; the impact of legislation affecting the banking industry including the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 and the Dodd-Frank Act Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and any regulations promulgated thereunder; the impact of competitive products, services, pricing, and other competitive forces; movements in interest rates; loan delinquency rates and changes in asset quality generally; threats to the security of our technology software and hardware; changes in our organization and management; changes in tax and accounting policies and practices; volatility in the financial markets and uncertainties concerning the availability of debt or equity financing; and the impact of regulatory supervision. For further information on factors that could cause actual results to materially differ from forward-looking statements, please see the Company’s publicly available Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including the Company’s 2010 Form 10-K and 2011 Form 10-Qs. The Company does not update any of its forward-looking statements except as required by law.

SOURCE Central Pacific Financial Corp.

Copyright (C) 2012 PR Newswire. All rights reserved

/quotes/zigman/3903763/quotes/nls/cpf

Add CPF to portfolio

CPF

Central Pacific Financial Corp.

$
14.00

+0.21
+1.52%

Volume: 63,456
Feb. 3, 2012 4:01p

The worst of the European sovereign
debt crisis may be over as the region’s banks are increasingly
able to access funding, according to Nomura Holdings Inc.’s (8604) top
executive in the region.

“There is evidence Europe is starting to turn a bit of a
corner,” John Phizackerley, Nomura’s chief executive officer
for Europe, Middle East and Africa, said in an interview on the
sidelines of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos,
Switzerland today. “If we can free up European markets and
access non-government money, it’s the beginning of the end.”

The European Central Bank is flooding the banking system
with cheap money to avoid a credit crunch after the market for
unsecured bank debt seized up in the second half of last year
and cash from US money market funds dried up. The ECB in
December lent banks an unprecedented 489 billion euros ($642
billion) for three years.

Since the ECB’s first offering of three-year money last
month, banks including Rabobank Nederland and Nordea Bank AB
have sold more than 19.5 billion euros of benchmark senior
unsecured debt. That compares with 14.5 billion euros of bonds
from July to December last year.

ECB ‘Effective’

“The ECB is proving effective,” said Phizackerley, 49.
“It doesn’t mean we don’t have another five to 10 years of hard
work to do at the sovereign level, but at least foreign
investment will return if there is a degree of confidence
markets can clear.”

The Japanese broker bought Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s
European and Asian operations in a bid to expand outside its
domestic market. The Tokyo-based firm has struggled to reap a
return from the expansion: Nomura’s overseas units posted their
biggest loss in six quarters for the three months ended
September. The firm is eliminating jobs to help reduce costs by
$1.2 billion.

“We are intending to stay the course,” Phizackerley said.
“We will be a beneficiary of the consolidation that is coming
in Europe.”

To contact the reporters on this story:
Jacqueline Simmons in Davos, Switzerland at
jackiem@bloomberg.net;
Ambereen Choudhury in London at
achoudhury@bloomberg.net;

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Edward Evans at eevans3@bloomberg.net

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The Vatican has rewritten its 2010 anti-money laundering law after European inspectors found that it did not fully meet their tough standards to combat the financing of terrorism.

The new law requires the Vatican to create a list of terror organisations based on those issued by the United Nations and requires the Vatican enter into agreements with other countries to share financial information.

The Holy See has been working for years to comply with European norms on money-laundering and terror financing in a bid to shed its image as a secrecy-obsessed tax haven and join the so-called “white list” of countries that crack down on tax fraud.

The Vatican’s efforts to get on the “white list” went into high gear after Rome prosecutors in September 2010 seized 23 million euro and placed the Pope’s top two bankers under investigation in an alleged money-laundering scheme.

The money was subsequently released and no indictments have been handed down, though the president of the Vatican’s Institute for Religious Works, or IOR, and his deputy remain under investigation.

In December, 2010 the Vatican unveiled its first salvo, passing an anti-money-laundering and terror finance law and creating a financial watchdog agency, the Financial Information Authority, tasked with ensuring all Vatican financial transactions comply with it.

In November 2011, inspectors from the Council of Europe reviewed the Holy See’s efforts and came back with recommendations that led to the revised law issued by decree Wednesday by the head of the Vatican city-state.

The Holy See made no major announcement of the revision, but the Vatican’s foreign minister, Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, referred obliquely to it in an article in the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano.

The article concerned the Vatican’s ratification of three anti-crime treaties that must be adopted to comply with the norms of the Financial Action Task Force – the Paris-based policymaking body that helps develop anti-money laundering and anti-terror financing legislation.

The Archbishop said the ratification of the treaties as well as the Vatican’s 2010 law, which he parenthetically revealed had been “modified” on Wednesday, showed the Vatican’s determination to adhere to the most rigorous international standards. The changes in the law, the Archbishop wrote, made the Vatican’s legislation more detailed, provided for greater financial cooperation between countries and called for higher sanctions for law-breakers.

Copyright © 2012 The Press Association. All rights reserved.

WASHINGTON — A new law enforcement group examining securities fraud from the housing bubble and financial crisis has already issued civil subpoenas to 11 financial companies for information related to their actions in the market for residential mortgage-backed securities, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said Friday.

President Obama announced the new group in his State of the Union address on Tuesday, saying it would “hold accountable those who broke the law, speed assistance to homeowners, and help turn the page on an era of recklessness that hurt so many Americans.”

At a news conference Friday, Mr. Holder said the group would be treading on different ground than that already covered by the Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory agencies that had previously filed fraud charges against sellers of mortgage-backed securities.

“We are wasting no time in aggressively pursuing any and all leads,” Mr. Holder said. “In sending out those subpoenas, we consulted with the S.E.C. in making a determination as to where they should go.” Officials would not say which companies received the subpoenas.

“We are not going to be looking at the same things they are examining,” he added. “We’re going to be working with them but looking at a separate group of institutions.”

The group, known as the Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group, is part of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, an interagency outfit created by Mr. Obama in 2009 to prosecute financial crimes.

Despite three years of work by that task force, however, public sentiment still holds that few if any of the real perpetrators of the housing bubble and financial crisis have been held accountable.

Eric Schneiderman, the New York attorney general, who is a co-chairman of the working group, said that having many different law enforcement groups working together “enables us to go places where each of us individually could not go.” For example, he said, “having the I.R.S. on the team opens up the possibility of looking into tax issues that hadn’t existed before.”

In addition, the New York State Martin Act, which gives the attorney general broad powers to elicit information during investigations, “is more flexible than federal securities laws,” Mr. Schneiderman said. The New York and Delaware attorneys general also have jurisdiction over the trusts that hold the mortgages that underlie the mortgage-backed securities, making them “the bricks and mortar of this entire structure.”

By coordinating their efforts, group members might be able to share documents and information that usually would be in individual agency silos, Mr. Holder said.

Although some prohibitions exist on sharing federal grand jury information, he added, “there are ways in which we can structure these investigations so that I don’t think grand jury prohibitions on the federal side will prevent us from sharing necessary information with our state partners.”

Shaun Donovan, the secretary of housing and urban development, whose agency is also part of the antifraud group, said its priorities also would include getting some financial relief to homeowners whose investments had been hurt by manipulations in the market for mortgage-backed securities.

A “fundamental principle” of the effort, Mr. Donovan said, is that “there is relief also for those homeowners” whose loans underlie the mortgage-backed securities. “It would be a tragedy,” he added, “if investors were made whole but homeowners who were wronged as well” continued to suffer.

Mr. Donovan said that a separate settlement being worked out between state attorneys general and mortgage servicing companies would not thwart the new group’s investigations, even if the settlement released companies from further law enforcement efforts related to mortgage servicing.

“We would not be standing here today if we were not absolutely confident,” Mr. Donovan said, adding that any releases being contemplated “are narrow enough to allow us to go forward aggressively.”

After a stellar pre-game meal at Silk City Diner, weve landed at Lincoln Financial Field. In a few hours, the Patriots [team stats] and Eagles will be playing, but we still have more than two hours before kickoff.

Coach Bill Belichick was out on the field early, walking around in his suit and checking the turf. Players were warned to wear long spikes this week, so maybe the field is an issue.

Anyway, there isnt much intrigue for the Patriots, who have already declared six players out. That means just one more inactive, and the expectation is that itll be QB Ryan Mallett. As for the Eagles, we will wait to see whether CB Nnamdi Asomugha (knee) and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (ankle). If they both dont play, the Eagles will dress just four CBs. Asomugha was just out with trainers checking himself out, moving slowly.