ENGLISH VIETNAMESE COMMERCIAL TRANSLATION 

1. Big US banks in talks with state prosecutors to settle claims of improper mortgage practices have been offered a deal that is proposed to limit part of their legal liability in return for a multibillion dollar payment.
2. The talks aim to settle allegations that banks including Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Ally Financial seized the homes of delinquent borrowers and broke state laws by employing so-called “robosigners”, workers who signed off on foreclose documents en masse without reviewing the paperwork.
3. State prosecutors have proposed effectively releasing the companies from legal liability for allegedly wrongful securitisation practices , according to five people with direct knowledge of the discussions.
4. Some state officials have expressed concern that they have offered the banks far too broad a release from liability . Others say the broad language was perhaps inadvertently crafted and will be tightened as negotiations continue. Participants on both sides stressed the talks remain fluid.
5. However, the banks – some of whose share prices have been battered by concern about their exposure to mortgage-related litigation – are pressing for immunity from a raft of alleged civil violations and have called the latest proposal a “non-starter”.

 

1. They say the proposals from state prosecutors will need to be expanded before striking a deal, which is expected to involve a total penalty of $10bn to $25bn.
2. The two sides will meet again this week to iron out their differences. They are close to an agreement on future standards governing the servicing of home loans, yet remain far apart on other issues, such as legal liability claims, compliance and enforcement, and the amount of cash it will take to settle the allegations.
3.  Bank stocks, which have been hammered in recent months, might be boosted by a settlement agreement if investors see it as the beginning of the end to a suffocating amount of mortgage-related litigation and the accompanying exposure to billions of dollars in losses.
4. BofA, which is perhaps the most exposed due to its ill-fated 2008 acquisition of troubled mortgage lender Countrywide Financial18,has been its shares plummet 49 percent over the past six months.
5.  US banks are now having to deal with a barrage of litigation that will determine how big their losses will be.
6. Certain federal and state agencies are using the settlement discussions as a way to heal the deteriorating housing market and secure fresh debt relief for distressed homeowners.
7. Some officials involved in the discussions have criticised this approach, pointing out that the government is attempting to resolve allegations it has not fully investigated. The talks began near the start of the year.
8. The worry over the states’ counterproposal stems from its treatment of loan documents. The term sheet proposes to release the banks from legal liability over how mortgage documents were maintained, prepared and transferred, people familiar with the matter said.
9. Though the counteroffer attempts to release the banks from liability with respect to home repossessions, and explicitly states that the release does not include securitisation claims, the language is broad enough in that it could prevent state officials from bringing securitisation claims in the future should they sign up to the agreement.
10.  At the heart of securitisation claims, which involve missteps in how home mortgages were bundled into bonds, are allegations that the banks did not properly maintain and transfer documents from one step in the complicated chain to the next.
11.  If banks are released from liability regarding documentation practices, some industry officials believe they would be able to evade state lawsuits directed at how they bundled the loans into securities.
12. The attorneys-general of New York, Delaware, Massachusetts and Nevada are probing such securitisation matters, and have already indicated to the other states that they did not agree with the counterproposal.
13. Catherine Cortez Masto, Nevada’s legal officer, last week charged Bank of America’s Countrywide unit with failing to properly transfer mortgages into the trusts that issued securities to investors, and for fraudulently pursuing home seizures anyway. New York’s Eric Schneiderman has indicated his office has reached similar findings.
14. A U.S. regulator sued a number of major banks Friday over losses on more than $41 billion in subprime mortgage bonds which may hamper a broader government mortgage settlement with banks.
15. The lawsuits by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, came as a surprise to the market and weighed on bank shares. The lawsuits could add billions of dollars to the banks’ potential costs at perhaps the worst possible time for the industry.
16. The FHFA accused major banks, including Bank of America, its Merrill Lynch unit, Barclays, Citigroup and Nomura Holdings of selling bonds backed by mortgages that should have never been packaged into securities.
17. The other banks are: Ally Financial (former GMAC), Countrywide Financial, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, First Horizon National, General Electric, Goldman Sachs, HSBC North America, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, The Royal Bank of Scotland Group and Société Générale.
18. The biggest banks are already negotiating with the attorneys general of all 50 states to address mortgage abuses . They are looking for a comprehensive settlement that will protect them from future litigation and limit their potential mortgage litigation losses.
19. “This new litigation could disrupt the AG settlement,” said Anthony Sanders, finance professor at George Mason University and a former mortgage bond strategist.
20. Before the FHFA lawsuits had even hit a court docket, financial experts offered blunt expectations for the outcome .
21. Banks may be more reluctant to agree to a settlement if they know litigation from other government players could still wallop their capital, he said.
22. “The lawsuits will be settled. The end result will be a further outflow of cash from the banks, and more importantly an additional black eye ,” said Sean Egan, managing director of Egan-Jones Ratings.
23.  FHFA director Edward DeMarco is looking to minimize future losses for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which are owned by the government after failing in 2008. The firms are pillars of US mortgage finance.
24.  The KBW Bank Index closed down 4.5 percent, nearly doubling the losses of the broader market. Bank of America led the index lower, dropping 8.3 percent.
25. Bank shares also came under pressure from signs that the Federal Reserve could start selling shorter-term debt on its books and buying long-dated bonds to push longer-term yields lower as a stimulus measure.
26.  Such a move, known as “ operation twist” , would hurt banks whose profit margin is tied to the short-term rates at which they fund and the longer-term rates at which they invest.
27.  Major banks already face potential payouts of tens of billions of dollar to settle regulatory charges of abusive mortgage lending and foreclosure practices , and other investor lawsuits over mortgage debt losses.
28.  Such payouts would reduce earnings and weaken capital levels, perhaps harming the ability of banks to lend money and provide much-needed life to a stalled housing market and weakened economy.
29. Representatives of the sued banks declined to comment or were not immediately available to comment.
30. Banks have been walloped by mortgage losses, but so have Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which failed after trying to finance too many bad mortgages with too little equity. The two entities guarantee bonds backed by mortgages.
31. The question of whether to take action for problems related to the mortgage bonds has been under discussion since Fannie and Freddie Mac were placed in conservatorship in 2008, a person familiar with the matter said.
32.  While the ultimate amount FHFA will seek is still unclear, that person said it could top the $ 20 billion being discussed by the banks and the state attorney general .
33. “Defendants falsely represented that the underlying mortgage loans complied with certain underwriting standards and guidelines, including representations that significantly overstated the ability of the borrowers to repay their mortgage loans.
34. These representations were material to the GSEs, as reasonable investors, and their falsity violates (the law) and constitutes negligent misrepresentation, common law fraud, and aiding and abetting fraud”, the FHFA said in the suit against Merrill Lynch.
35. The blizzard of litigation against banks is hurting share prices in the sector because investors feel unable to estimate the ultimate scope of a given bank’s legal liabilities.
36.  Bank of America, for example, had intended its proposed $8.5 billion settlement in June with investors in Countrywide mortgage securities to resolve most litigation tied to its disastrous 2008 takeover of that home loan provider.
37. But many parties are objecting to that settlement, and the deal didn’t stop the insurer American International Group from suing Bank of America for $10 billion over its own alleged mortgage securities losses.
38.  Nor did it stop Nevada’s attorney general from threatening to withdraw from an $8.4 billion nationwide settlement with the bank . The AG now wants to sue the bank, accusing it of reneging on promises to modify mortgages.
39.  Other banks also face mortgage lawsuits. In May, for example, the U.S. Justice Department sued Deutsche Bank, accusing it of misleading a U.S. housing agency into believing loans it made qualified for federal insurance.
40.  The FHFA’s lawsuits follow an initial lawsuit in July against UBS seeking to recover $900 million of losses incurred on $4.5 billion of debt.
41. One legislator praised the expected FHFA lawsuits. Brad Miller, a Democratic congressman from North Carolina, said, “Not pursuing those claims would be an indirect subsidy for an industry that has gotten too many subsidies already.”
42. FHFA and various investors have alleged that banks, while packaging residential home loans into securities sold to investors, failed to conduct adequate due diligence, and hid or misstated the quality of the underlying loans and underwriting as well as borrowers’ ability to make payments.
43.  As more borrowers _fell behind or went into foreclosure, the value of securities backed by their loans fell, causing losses for investors.
44. Losses stemming from the precipitous deterioration in subprime and other mortgages pushed the government to take over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Sept 7, 2008. Since then, taxpayers have spent more than $140 billion to keep the firms afloat.

• Japan government and central bank intervene to cut yen

The Japanese government and central bank have intervened to weaken the yen to protect economic growth.

Japan sold yen on the markets, weakening the currency so that the dollar was worth more than 79 yen, up from about 77 yen before the move.

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) announced further monetary easing in the afternoon.

These were unilateral moves by Japan, unlike an intervention in March, which was backed by the G7 group of nations.

Analysts questioned whether the intervention would have any long-term impact.

The BOJ said it would make more money available to financial markets by expanding a programme to buy government bonds and other securities.

The central bank will increase the money associated with that programme from 40tn yen ($504bn; £308bn) to 50tn yen.

It said it would achieve this by the end of 2012.

“The Bank deemed it necessary to further enhance monetary easing, thereby ensuring a successful transition from the recovery phase following the earthquake disaster to a sustainable growth path with price stability,” the BOJ said in a statement

The central bank also decided to keep its benchmark policy rate at a range of zero to 0.1%.

The government has repeatedly warned that the strong yen threatens growth and recovery from a deadly earthquake and tsunami.

Since the last intervention, the yen had gained about 5% against the US dollar, and over the past 12 months it has risen by almost 12%.

“Intervention doesn’t generally have a long-term impact on the value of the yen,” said Naomi Fink of Jefferies.

“Its aim is to send a warning to speculators and to prevent markets from becoming disorderly.“

The dollar was recently trading at close to 78.47 against the yen, up from 77.

Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda confirmed the move to the media but declined to comment on the size of the intervention.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the government was stepping in at the right moment.

“Recent currency moves were one sided and could have hurt the economy, and considering this, the intervention was timely,” Mr Edano told reporters.

 

The BBC’s Tokyo correspondent Roland Buerk says the government has complained that the rise of the yen has not been based on economic fundamentals.

Japan’s economic growth has been stagnating and has been put under increased pressure by the cost of rebuilding following the deadly earthquake and tsunami in March.

But despite these problems, the yen has been boosted in recent months as many investors have moved away from the US dollar and the euro amid fears of an expanding debt crisis.

Other currencies, such as the Swiss franc, which are seen as being less risky have also gained.

In a surprise move on Wednesday, the Swiss central bank cut interest rates in an attempt to weaken the franc.

Analysts questioned how much governments such as Japan or central banks such as Switzerland’s can do on their own to weaken currencies.

“The yen’s advance reflects the difficult economic and fiscal situation of both the US and the eurozone,” said Takashi Kamiya from T&D Asset Management.

“So even if Japan intervenes in the market, it won’t be able to combat the yen’s rise in the long run on its own.”

• Beijing Withdraws $3 Billion from State Lenders

Published: Saturday, 10 Sep 2011 | 2:50 AM ET

By: Reuters

China’s central bank has withdrawn at least 20 billion yuan ($3 billion) from some state-owned lenders via designated central bank bills to punish them for lending too much in August, banking sources told Reuters on Friday.

The People’s Bank of China forced state banks, including Industrial and Commercial Bank of China , China Construction Bank Corp and Agricultural Bank of China, to buy bills it issued to them at a fixed price, the sources said. 

The detailed terms and prices of the bills were not known. But according to China’s past practices, designated bills are often over-priced and non-tradable to be “punitive“.

The PBOC declined to comment.

“The move is a small punishment for the lenders who don’t toe the central bank line carefully enough,” an interbank market bond trader, who declined to be named, told Reuters. 

The amount of 20 billion yuan is quite small in the routine inter-bank open-market operations. This week alone, the  People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has injected a net 100 billion yuan via its regular open market operations.  

This follows a major policy move in late August to mop up liquidity, where banks were asked to include margin deposits in required reserves at the central bank, pulling an estimated 800-900 billion yuan ($125-141 billion) from the banking system.

Despite the moves, the liquidity situation has improved in the interbank market, and the weighted average seven-day repo rate fell to 3.6206 percent on Friday from Thursday’s close of 3.9947. 

“The overall market liquidity remains abundant,” the trader said. “The central bank is expected to enhance its efforts in soaking up liquidity in the coming weeks,” he said.

China’s central bank has been clamping down on bank loans to tame inflation, which in July jumped to a three-year high, and relies on bank quotas as one of the means to control lending. 

The PBOC issues designated bills to banks that are found to be lending more, forcing them to purchase the bills.  

The move is widely regarded as less potent to other administrative moves in control of liquidity and lending, such as changes in bank credit quotas and required reserve ratios.

• New Worries Over Broker Pay at Bank of America

• Vocabulary: 

1. to oust sb from st : to force sb out of a job or a position of power : đuổi/trục xuất ai đó ra khỏi một ví trí chức vụ.

2. wealth-management business : bộ phận quản lý tài sản.
3. radically : một cách triệt để
4. initial skepticism : sự hoài nghi ban đầu.
5. “not on the table” = no longer available: không còn nữa
6. to win over the loyalty of sb : chiếm được lòng tin của ai đó
7. an assault:   a violent onset or attack, cuộc tấn công, công kích.
8. discretion:    freedom to act according to one’s own judgment; unrestrained exercise of  choice or will, quyền tự quyết
9. synergy :    combined action, working together, hiệp lực
10.  veteran:   person who is exercised in anything, especially in military life and the duties of a soldier; long practiced or experienced, người kì cựu, lão luyện
11.  to twist the arms of sb: to persuade or force sb to do st: thuyết phục, bắt buộc
12.  to bring in sb: to ask sb to do a particular job: giới thiệu, đưa lên.
13.  elevation: the process of sb getting a higher rank: sự đề bạt.
14. to go to the mat: support or defend sb or st in an argument: bảo vệ, ủng hộ, đứng về phía

Published: Wednesday, 7 Sep 2011 | 10:56 AM ET

By: John Carney
Senior Editor, CNBC.com

The ousting of Sallie Krawcheck from the top of Bank of America’s wealth-management business has many financial advisers concerned that the structure of their compensation may be radically changed, according to several people at the firm.

Merrill Lynch financial advisers are paid commissions based on client assets and fees. Ever since Merrill was acquired by Bank of America there has been concern that the fee structure would be converted to the salary plus discretionary bonus system that is used in Bank of America’s other wealth-management business, U.S. Trust.

After some initial skepticism, Krawcheck won over the loyalty of Merrill’s financial advisers—in part because she reassured them that she wouldn’t change the compensation structure.

Krawcheck assured financial advisers that a change in compensation was “simply not on the table.” The attrition rate—brokers leaving to join rivals or go independent—that rose immediately after the acquisition fell dramatically under Krawcheck’s leadership.

Many Merrill brokers see any change as an assault on their independence—and their pocket books. Many do not want senior management to have discretion when awarding bonuses. They suspect that ultimately their compensation level would drop if put under the U.S. Trust system.

Some within Bank of America regard the Merrill brokers as “dinosaurs” and think that the compensation model is out of date.

Another broker concern has been cross-selling—pushing products developed by other parts of the bank on brokerage clients. Many brokers resist this because they feel it can compromise their loyalty to clients. But it is one of the core synergies that drives the creation of a megabank like Bank of America.

The fight over cross-selling led to the resignation earlier this year of Lyle LaMothe, a twenty-year Merrill veteran who had become the head of US wealth management under Krawcheck. Although officially he left for “personal reasons,” sources at the firm said he left after clashing with Bank of America’s management over efforts to get Merrill brokers to sell more banking products to their clients

Krawcheck had a reputation as a defender of client interests, resisting pushes from other parts of the bank to twist the arms of brokers to put their clients into other bank products.

With Krawcheck gone, many brokers wonder if compensation and cross-selling will become issues once again.

 “Is David Darnell going to fight for us the way Sallie did? I really doubt Moynihan brought in a big broker advocate,” one broker said, referring to the former head of commercial banking at Bank of America who will now lead all consumer facing businesses, including wealth management.

At the top of Merrill wealth management totem poll, just below Darnell, will be John Thiel—who was tapped to replace LaMothe earlier this year. Thiel was not Krawcheck’s first choice for the job—but he was Moynihan’s, according to a person close to the matter. Indeed, his elevation was seen as a sign that Krawcheck was losing control.

Although Thiel began his career in Merrill brokerage, he moved over to private banking. He is considered a “products guy” —someone who can develop and sell new banking products—rather than a “financial advisory” guy.

In short, Thiel is also considered to be unlikely to go to the mat for brokers. 

• Bank of America’s Darnell Seeks to Reassure Nervous Merrill Brokers

Published: Thursday, 8 Sep 2011 | 10:07 AM ET

By: John Carney
Senior Editor, CNBC.com

The newly minted co-chief operating officer who oversees Merrill Lynch’s 16,000 brokers hosted a conference call Wednesday in attempt to quell fears in the wake of Sallie Krawcheck’s exit.

David Darnell, who was elevated to be co-COO along with Tom Montag, will oversee all of Bank of America‘s consumer business, including its wealth-management business. He had run the bank’s commercial-banking business, which will now fall under Montag’s control.

Darnell told brokers on the conference call that the firm would not change the way they are compensated, according to people who listened to the call. Many Merrill brokers, who are paid commissions based on client business they produce, fear that Bank of America will attempt to change their compensation into a salary plus a discretionary bonus.

The protection of the compensation model has long been a concern among Merrill brokers. The other wealth-management unit at Bank of America, U.S. Trust, uses a salary plus bonus system.

“He told us the the unique culture and comp will stay in place,” said one financial adviser who listened to the call.

Darnell is not a complete stranger to the brokers. As head of commercial banking, he helped win some business for the brokerage and brokers helped him win business for the commercial bank, according to people at the firm. But this raises fears that he will push hard on “cross-selling”—the practice of selling other banking products to brokerage clients. Some brokers feel that when cross-selling goes to far it can compromise client interests.

There is certainly a lot of skepticism about Darnell’s ability to effectively lead Merrill Lynch.

“The big producers at Merrill, there’s no way they are going to work for a commercial banker,” one former Merrill employee told me.

Darnell’s conference call Wednesday was the first step in an attempt to repair what seems to be an already broken relationship between the senior management at Bank of America and the Merrill Lynch brokers.

• Bank of America CEO Announces Management Shake-Up

Published: Tuesday, 6 Sep 2011 | 6:18 PM ET

By: Reuters

Bank of America, which has lost almost half of its market value this year, announced a broad reorganization on Tuesday that includes the departure two senior executives.

The biggest U.S. bank said Joe Price, head of consumer banking, and Sallie Krawcheck, head of global wealth and investment management, are leaving. Price was a former chief financial officer of the company, and Krawcheck was a former CFO of Citigroup and leader of its Smith Barney brokerage unit.

Chief Executive Brian Moynihan named commercial banking head David Darnell and investment banking head Tom Montag, a former Goldman Sachs executive, to new positions as co-chief operating officers.

The changes are effective immediately, the company said.

“There are some real fundamental questions as to the direction of the company,” said David Dietze, chief investment strategist at Point View Financial Services. “It seems apparent Moynihan is under pressure to make some bold moves … obviously there is disagreement among people at the top who have lots of options and lots of experience.”

Point View Financial owns BofA shares.

In their new roles, Darnell will oversee consumer bank operations, while Montag will run divisions that work with corporate and institutional customers.

Krawcheck was in charge of the sprawling Merrill Lynch brokerage operation as well as of the bank’s private banking units.

Bank of America shares rose in after-hours trading after finishing the regular trading session at $6.99 on the New York Stock Exchange.

•  Swiss Central Bank Move ‘Huge Mistake’: Jim Rogers

• Vocabulary: 

1. pledge (v): lời cam kết, lời hứa; vật thế chấp, làm tin hoặc cầm cố.
2. take the shine off/out of sth (idiom): làm lu mờ, vượt hẳn lên.
3. haven (n): nơi trú ẩn
4. debase (v): hạ thấp giá trị, hạ giá
5. roil (v): khuấy động, khuấy đảo, chọc tức   

Published: Wednesday, 7 Sep 2011 | 2:40 AM ET

By: Antonia Oprita
Deputy News Editor, CNBC.com

The Swiss central bank’s decision to set a limit on how much the Swiss franc can appreciate against the euro is “a huge mistake”, investor Jim Rogers, chairman of Rogers Holdings, told CNBC.com on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the Swiss National Bank set a minimum exchange rate of 1.20 Swiss francs for the euro, pledging to buy other currencies in unlimited amounts to defend the target.

Analysts said this was an endurance contest by which the SNB wanted to take the shine off the Swiss franc’s safe haven status, in a move that roiled markets.

The move “will work for a while, but the market will have more money in the end than the SNB,” Rogers, who was the co-founder of the Quantum Fund with George Soros, told CNBC.com.

The Swiss central bank risks losing “a lot of money buying up lots of foreign currencies which they will eventually sell at a loss,” he explained.

Another risk is that the central bank will “totally debase the Swiss franc trying to keep Switzerland ‘competitive’ which will then destroy the traditional Swiss financial industry,” Rogers said.

“So this is a huge mistake for Switzerland since they are going to suffer more either way,” he added.

After the Swiss central bank’s move on Tuesday, the dollar and the euro appreciated sharply versus the franc and analysts have started to look for the next safe-haven currency.

“RMB [Chinese yuan] is best,” Rogers said, adding that the US dollar is “probably good in the short term, but the absolute worst over the long term.”

Rogers has often criticized the Federal Reserve  for weakening the dollar by printing money to boost growth following the financial crisis.

Investors have been looking for ways to get into the Chinese yuan, as some analysts predict that China will overtake the US to be the world’s top economy in a few decades. The yuan is still not fully convertible although China has taken small steps towards liberalizing its currency.

“There are various ways to get RMB exposure outside China,” Rogers said, adding that investors can now open bank accounts in renminbi in various cities like New York, San Francisco, Hong Kong, Singapore and others and can buy renminbi – denominated bonds in the international markets.

© 2011 CNBC.com

 14. BANKS SUED OVER MORTGAGE DEALS

• Vocabulary:

1. prosecutor – 1 (n): công tố viên (a person, especially a public official, who institutes legal proceedings against someone)
2. mortgage – 1 (n): thế chấp (the charging of real or personal property by a debtor to a creditor as security for a debt, on the condition that it shall be returned on payment of the debt within a certain period)
3. legal liability – 1 (n): các khoản nợ theo luật (liability (n): the state of being responsible for something, especially by law)
4. allegation – 2 (n): sự cáo buộc (a claim or assertion that someone has done something illegal or wrong)
5. delinquent – 2 (adj): vi phạm (showing or characterized by a tendency to commit crime, particularly minor crime)
6. foreclosure document – 2 (n): lệnh tịch thu tài sản (foreclosure (n): the process of taking possession of a mortgaged property as a result of the mortgagor’s failure to keep up mortgage payments)
7. en masse – 2 (adv): số lượng lớn (in a group, all together)
8. securitization – 3 (n): sự chứng khoán hóa
9. official – 4 (n): công nhân viên chức, thường là người của chính phủ nhà nước
10.  inadvertently – 4 (adv): mang tính tạm thời (original meaning: without intention, accidentally)
11.   craft – 4 (v): làm ra, tạo ra (making something by hands)
12.   fluid – 4 (adj): có khả năng sẽ có sự thay đổi (not settled or stable, likely or able to change)
13.   batter – 5 (v): gây ra ảnh hưởng xấu (original meaning: strike repeatedly with hard blows; pound heavily and insistently)
14.  litigation – 5 (n): sự kiện tụng, vụ tố tụng (the process of taking legal action)
15.   a raft of – 5: nhiều, toàn bộ (“raft”(n) literally means: a flat buoyant structure of timber or other materials fastened together, used as a boat or floating platform)
16.   proposal – 5 (n): quyết định (a plan or suggestion, especially a formal or written one, put forward for consideration or discussion by others)
17.   iron out – 7 (idiom): giải quyết
18.   govern – 7 (v): áp dụng chung (conduct the policy, actions, and affairs of a state, organization, or people)
19.   compliance – 7 (n): sự chấp hành, tuân thủ (the action or fact of complying with a wish or command)
20.   enforcement – 7 (n): sự thực thi, thi hành (the act of compelling observance of or compliance with a law, rule, or obligation)
21.   hammer – 8 (v): chị tác động xấu (original meaning: hit or beat something down with a hammer or similar object)
22.   suffocating – 8 (adj): nhiều áp lực (original meaning: die or cause to die from lack of air or inability to breathe)
23.   expose – 9 (v, n: exposure – 8): phanh phui (make something visible, typically by uncovering it)
24.   ill-fated – 9 (adj): xui xẻo, kém may mắn (destined to fail or have bad luck)
25.   plummet – 9 (v): tụt giảm một cách nhanh chóng (fall or drop straight down at high speed)
26.   federal – 11 (adj): thuộc về liên bang (having or relating to a system of government in which several states form a unity but remain independent in internal affairs)
27.   deteriorating – 11 (adj): có xu hướng xấu đi (become progressively worse)
28.   housing market – 11 (n): thị trường bất động sản
29.   relief – 11 (n): cảm giác chắc chắn, sự tin tưởng (a feeling of reassurance and relaxation following release from anxiety or distress)
30.   stem – 12 (v): được gây ra, xuất hiện bởi (originate in or be caused by)
31.   explicitly – 13 (adv): làm điều gì một cách rõ ràng (stated clearly and in detail, leaving no room for confusion or doubt)
32.   misstep – 14 (n): sai lầm, sai phạm (a clumsy or badly judged step, similar with mistake)
33.   bundle – 14 (v): gán ghép, đồng nhất (tie or roll up a number of things together as though into a parcel)
34.   bond – 14 (n): trái phiếu (debts that are issued for a period of more than one year, which is sold by the government, companies and many other types of institutions)
35.   attorneys-general – 16 (n): tổng chưởng lý (the principal legal officer who represents a country or a state in legal proceedings and gives legal advice to the government)
36.   probe – 16 (v): điều tra, tìm hiểu (physically explore or examine something)
37.   charge – 17 (v): tố cáo, buộc tội (accuse someone) of something, especially an offense under law)
38.   fraudulently – 17 (adv): gian lận (obtained, done by, or involving deception, especially criminal deception)
39.   pursue – 17 (v): theo đuổi, tiếp tục làm (continue or proceed along a path or route)
40.   seizure – 17 (n): siết, hồ thu (the action of capturing someone or something using force)

By Tom Braithwaite, Kara Scannell and Dan McCrum in New York

A US regulator sued 17 international financial groups, ranging from Bank of America to Barclays, alleging they mis-sold almost $200bn of mortgage-backed securities and demanding compensation for billions of dollars of losses.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency filed the suits in New York state Supreme Court on Friday accusing the banks of making “materially false” statements about the quality of mortgages that were bundled into securities and sold, before plunging in value in the financial crisis.

Bank stocks fell sharply on Friday in anticipation of the lawsuits – the latest salvo in a barrage of mortgage-related litigation that has rocked investor confidence in the sector.

Bank of America, the biggest seller of mortgage-backed securities to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored enterprises that buy and guarantee US home loans, fell 8 per cent. The FHFA is suing the banks in its capacity as regulator of Fannie and Freddie.

But the targets of the lawsuits include other US banks such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup as well as overseas institutions such as Nomura and Credit Suisse. Individual employees are also cited in the court filings for signing documents that the FHFA said were false.

Since Fannie and Freddie are in government conservatorship and Royal Bank of Scotland, another target of the action, is majority-owned by the UK government, the lawsuits have produced the unusual situation of Washington suing London over crisis-era losses on $30.4bn of securities.

Banks reacted angrily to the move. BofA said Fannie and Freddie “claimed to understand the risks inherent in investing in subprime securities” and yet were “now seeking to hold other market participants responsible for their losses”. Deutsche Bank said the institutions were “the epitome of a sophisticated investor” and the bank would “vigorously defend against the action”.

Dick Bove, banking analyst for Rochdale Securities, questioned the suit, arguing that the “forensic analysis of the mortgages” now proposed should have been part of Fannie and Freddie’s underwriting when they bought the mortgage securities.

He also expected negative consequences for the economy. “They are taking measures that will significantly increase unemployment,” he said, arguing that the suit further increases pressure on the banks to shrink, by reducing their lending activity and raising capital. He suggested that the Securities and Exchange Commission should investigate what appeared to be “a well orchestrated campaign to drive BofA out of business”.

The latest legal moves will be celebrated by those who believe that banks have gone unpunished for their part in manufacturing the so-called toxic assets out of subprime mortgage securities that clogged the financial system during the credit crisis.

Wells Fargo was a notable absentee from the list, which also included HSBC, Société Generale, General Electric, Ally Financial and First Horizon. Wells declined to comment but another institution said all banks had been in discussions with regulators with a view to settling the legal action and such deals might still be reached in the coming weeks.

FHFA has employed Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, whose website quotes a client describing its lawyers as “hungry dogs”, to pursue damages. The firm carved out a niche in mortgage litigation by choosing to represent buyers or insurers of the debt instead of the more lucrative business of representing banks and mortgage origination companies.

Analysis: Vietnam taps reserves but dong still likely to slide

1. Stuck (adj): kẹt, không thể di chuyển được
2. Appeal (v) thu hút, hấp dẫn

Appealing (adj) >< Unappealing (adj)

1. Dip into sth (money) (phrv): tiêu một phần tiền dự trữ, tiết kiệm
2. Foreign reserves (n): dự trữ ngoại hối
3. Bolster (v): hỗ trợ, làm cái gì đó mạnh hơn
4.  Chronic (adj): lâu dài, nhiều năm
5. Repel (v): đẩy lùi, khước từ, làm khó chịu
6. Hamper (v): làm vướng, cản trở
7. Faltering (adj): ấp úng, loạng choạng, nao núng
8.  Tame (v): thuần hóa (vật nuôi), chế ngự
9.  Sizable (adj): to lớn, cỡ lớn
10.  Deficit (n): thâm thủng, thiếu hụt
11.  Tinker (v): thay đổi, sửa chữa nhỏ
12.  Devalue (v): hạ giá trị, làm mất giá, phá giá
13.  Small devaluation (n): phá giá nhỏ lẻ
14.  Single devaluation (n): phá giá một lần
15.  Erode (v): xói mòn
16.  Shed (v): tạo ra, bỏ rơi, giải thoát
17.  Compel (n): bắt buộc
18.  Bulk up (phrv): lên tới một tổng số lớn
19.  Team up (phrv): gia nhập, hợp tác
20.  Crackdown (n): bắt bớ, đàn áp
21.  Curtail (v): rút ngắn, tước đi
22.  Bear fruit : có kết quả tốt, thành công
23.  On par with sb/sth: bằng với, ngang hàng với
24.  Interbank exchange rate (n): tỷ giá liên ngân hàng
25.  Mandate (v): cho phép, yêu cầu
26.  Amid (Amidst) (prep): ở giữa, được bao quanh bởi
27.  Surplus (n): số dư, thặng dư
28.  Suck up (phrv): nịnh hót, bợ đỡ để đạt được mục đích
29.  Instill (v): truyền dẫn, làm cho thấm nhuần
30.  Sweeping (adj): chung chung, bao quát
31.  Macro-economy (n): kinh tế vĩ mô
32.  Micro-economy (n): kinh tế vi mô
33.  Pay lip service to sth: đồng ý nhưng không hỗ trợ
34.  Premature (adj): sớm, yểu, non, hấp tấp, vội vã
35.  Back-peddle (v): đi ngược lại những gì bạn đã từng nói
36.   Raise one’s eyebrows: diễn tả sự ngạc nhiên bằng cách nhướn mày
37.  Spark (v): gây ra
38.  FX = Foreign Exchange
39.  SBV = State Bank of Vietnam: Ngân hàng Nhà nước Việt Nam
40.  Warchest (n): dự trữ tiền mặt

By John Ruwitch

HANOI | Tue Sep 6, 2011 10:02 pm EDT

(Reuters) – The Vietnamese dong looks stuck for now with the unappealing title of Asia’s worst performing currency, despite moves by the central bank to dip into foreign reserves to bolster it.

The dong’s chronic weakness has repelled foreign investors and hampered attempts by Vietnam’s policymakers to reverse the faltering fortunes of an economy that only five years ago was one of Asia’s most promising.

Until Vietnam rebuilds trust by decisively taming the region’s worst inflation and narrowing sizable trade and budget deficits, the risks of holding dong are likely to continue to outweigh the benefits no matter what tinkering the central bank does, analysts and investors say.

The dong is stronger today than in February when the State Bank of Vietnam devalued it by 8.5 percent. Still, the currency has lost more than 20 percent in value since mid-2008, as waves of inflation, high credit growth and large deficits eroded already low levels of confidence. Since that time, it has shed more than any other Asian currency.

This year, the dong strengthened from February until August — but it doesn’t look likely to switch again and appreciate.

“The VND will find it difficult to maintain its current level indefinitely given the current economic environment,” said Dominic Bunning, a foreign exchange strategy associate at HSBC.

In an attempt to end a cycle of small devaluations, the State Bank of Vietnam launched a campaign to stabilize the currency on February 11 with the biggest single devaluation since the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997-8, an 8.5 percent move.

The SBV subsequently compelled state-owned firms to sell it their foreign exchange to bulk up reserves, teamed up with the police in a sustained crackdown on the black market, curtailed gold trading that fuels dollar demand and raised bank reserve requirement ratios for foreign currencies three times.

OVER-VALUED AND VULNERABLE

For a period of months, the measures bore fruit. In late February the unofficial exchange rate peaked above 22,000 dong per dollar and in April it was back down on par with the interbank exchange rate around 20,900 and trading within the central bank-mandated trading band.

But in early August, the dong fell back outside the band as gold prices soared — amid a new bout of gold fever — and the trade account slipped back into deficit after a rare surplus in July, raising fresh questions about the sustainability of central bank policies.

Sources say that since mid-August, the central bank has been selling dollars selectively to major banks. Central bank governor Nguyen Van Binh and other central bank officials declined to comment.

The SBV’s steps “seem to have frozen the problem, but don’t deal with the problem, which is that there’s not enough foreign exchange at the official rate,” said Jonathan Pincus, dean of the Fulbright Economics Teaching Program in Ho Chi Minh City.

And that, he said, is partly a result of attempts by authorities to control both the exchange rate and interest rates. “Basically they have to pick one,” he said.

“There’s no faith in the VND. No one trusts it and interest rates aren’t high enough to compensate for people’s expectations about devaluation.”

That appears to be borne out on the street, where many put spare cash into gold or dollars. Teacher Nguyen Thi Uyen stopped by to check prices at a crowded Hanoi gold shop on a recent day. “People don’t have much faith in the dong,” said Uyen.

For dong deposits, banks are allowed to pay interest of 14 percent. That might sound high, but annual inflation hit 23 percent — a 33-month-high — in August.

Foreign investors and analysts say the government needs to do more to boost the economy.

Mark Mobius, executive chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets group, said a “long-range” stabilization plan should involve government spending cuts, a bulking up of foreign reserves and a major drive to privatize state-owned enterprises, which suck up credit but often use it relatively inefficiently.

“These measures will instill confidence,” Mobius said. “Rapid currency movements make decision-making more difficult for an investor.”

STABILISING, NOT FIXING

Sweeping reforms seem unlikely in the short term, so the question is whether the SBV can keep the dong’s rate of weakening in check.

Binh, a career central banker and former deputy who was elevated to governor in July, is careful where he aims.

“Stabilizing the value of the Vietnam dong is our key goal. Stabilizing, not fixing (it),” the online news portal Vietnamnet.vn quoted him as saying in mid-August.

Much will depend on the macro-economic environment and the depth of Vietnam’s foreign reserves, economists say.

The authorities have continued to pay lip service to the inflation fight, but at the same time have started to push for lower interest rates and more lending to certain sectors, with some arguing that price pressures have peaked.

Benedict Bingham, the International Monetary Fund’s senior resident representative in Vietnam, warns that the improved sentiment toward the dong this year was “positive but fragile.”

“Any premature easing of monetary policy might undermine that sentiment in the foreign exchange market,” he said.

ANZ revised its forecast for the exchange rate last week, citing “further signs of back-peddling on inflation to favor growth.” The bank now sees the dong hitting 21,000 per dollar by year-end versus 20,835 currently, it said in a note.

MANAGING IT WEAKER

Matt Hildebrandt, an economist at J.P. Morgan in Singapore, said a 4-6 percent yearly decline in the value of the dong “would not raise eyebrows,” but a deeper fall would spark concerns about inflation and return on investment.

“They can manage it weaker slowly if they have the FX reserves to do it, but we don’t really know where those stand,” he said.

Vietnam’s level of reserves is considered a state secret and the central bank does not publish current figures.

Le Xuan Nghia, vice chairman of the National Financial Supervisory Committee, said reserves had sunk to $7 billion to $8 billion earlier this year from $23 billion in 2008.

When the currency was strengthening after the February devaluation, the SBV bought $6 billion to bolster reserves, the government reported.

“Most observers think that in past FX crises, an intervention by the central bank in an amount of $2 billion would be sufficient to restore stability,” the brokerage VinaSecurities said in a note last week.

“The current war chest built up by SBV is three times that amount.”

(Editing by Richard Borsuk)

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