Financial advisor Dennis Tubbergen takes a look at loans made to Arab Banking Corporation.

Grand Rapids, MI -- (SBWire) -- 04/20/2011 -- Financial advisor Dennis Tubbergen frequently takes time on his online blog and in his monthly Moving Markets? newsletter to examine the global economies and how the U.S. and its citizens are faring.

Tubbergen, who is CEO of USA Wealth Management, LLC, a federally-registered investment advisory company, recently discussed for his readers the Federal Reserve and its attempts to use quantitative easing to get the economy in the U.S. back on track.

But even Tubbergen was stunned when recent headlines proclaimed the Federal Reserve gave loans to Libya.

“Last week Bloomberg Businessweek reported that the Federal Reserve made 73 loans to Arab Banking Corporation in the 18 months following the collapse of Lehman Brothers,” Tubbergen wrote on his blog on April 4, 2011. “Arab Banking Corporation, according to the article, was owned 29 percent by the Libyan State at the time of the loans. Total loans made over that time frame were $35 billion according to the Bloomberg report.”

Tubbergen quotes the Bloomberg article as saying, “In October 2008, when lending to financial institutions by the central bank’s so-called discount window peaked at $111 billion, Arab Banking Corporation took repeated loans totaling more than $2 billion. Fed officials say all the discount window loans made during the worst financial crisis since the 1930s have been repaid with interest.”

The article also quotes Senator Bernard Sanders of Vermont as saying in a letter to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, “It is incomprehensible to me that while creditworthy small businesses in Vermont and throughout the country could not receive affordable loans, the Federal Reserve was providing tens of billions of dollars in credit to a bank that is substantially owned by the Central Bank of Libya.”

Spokesman for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Jack Gutt is reported to have declined comment.

“While I don’t often agree with Senator Sanders, I certainly believe he’s got a point here,” concludes Tubbergen. “I’m not surprised the Fed didn’t comment – there’s not much to say.”

Dennis Tubbergen has been in the financial industry for over 25 years and has his corporate offices in the USA Wealth Management Building in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan. Tubbergen is CEO of USA Wealth Management, LLC and has an online blog that can be viewed at www.dennistubbergen.com. His weekly talk show The Everything Financial Radio Show is simulcast on two Michigan metro stations and also airs to over 600,000 financial advisors, with recent podcasts available at http://www.everythingfinancialradio.com.

The opinions expressed herein are those of the writer and not necessarily those of USA Wealth Management, LLC. This update may contain forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements as to future events that involve various risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual events or results to differ materially from those that were forecasted. Therefore, no forecast should be construed as a guarantee.

Prior to making any investment decision, individuals should consult a professional to determine the risks, costs, benefits and fees associated with a particular investment. Information obtained from third party resources is believed to be reliable but the accuracy cannot be guaranteed.