"Bad Bank" for Toxic Debt?

An ‘Aggregator Bank’ for Toxic Debt?

Excerpt:

The heads of the U.S. Treasury and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. gave further momentum to the idea of a new government-backed bank to remove toxic assets from lenders’ balance sheets.

“A lot of work has been done on an aggregator bank” and other ways of using the $700 billion financial-rescue fund “to let it go further when it comes to dealing with illiquid assets,” Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told reporters today in Washington. FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair praised the idea in an interview on CNBC, saying it might have “some merit.”

Today’s remarks come days before President-elect Barack Obama takes office, and signal a readiness among regulators to undertake what’s likely to be the most radical effort yet to unfreeze lending. Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke earlier this week urged a “comprehensive plan” to address illiquid assets, floating the idea of a “bad bank.”

Comment: Can you get an ATM card there? Does "Bad Santa" bank there? :)