It’s not often that the FDIC puts out a statement to clarify something written by a news organization, but that’s what it did on Friday.

According to Bloomberg, FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said that some bank chiefs will be ousted in the coming months following the government stress tests on some of the country’s largest banking institutions during an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital with Al Hunt.”

The FDIC Office of Public Affairs sent out a release after seeing the Bloomberg story, calling it misleading.

“The Bloomberg story referencing Chairman Bair’s discussion of management and board changes is misleading and does not provide the proper context of her comments. Chairman Bair said that management changes could happen based on the capital plans that an institution must submit to the government. She did not refer to CEOs specifically and the comment was in the context of capital plans submitted by the institutions. Chairman Bair also did not suggest the federal government will remove the bank CEOs.”

Here’s the transcript of the interview, per the FDIC:

MR. HUNT: But in the same situation, or similar situation, the government already replaced CEOs at Fannie and Freddie and General Motors -

MS. BAIR: Yes, that’s right.

MR. HUNT: And some people say, well, why is the head of Bank of America still there? Or why are some of these other banks’ CEO’s still there?

MS. BAIR: Right, well, obviously I don’t comment on open and operating institutions. I think the review needs to go with both the management and the boards as well, absolutely. And management needs to be evaluated and is this the right skill set, have they been doing a good job, are there people who can do a better job, those kinds of questions.

MR. HUNT: Do you think some will be replaced in the next couple of months without getting into the particulars?

MS. BAIR: Yeah, I think there will be an evaluation process. We’re requesting it as part of the capital plan and yes.

What do you think? Was the Bloomberg story actually misleading or did Bair reveal too much?

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The government is trying to figure out if banks massaged their books in order to receive a piece of the $700 billion bank bailout, and it has Neil Barofsky, special inspector-general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, aka the “Tarp Cop,” on the case.

“I hope we don’t find a single bank that’s cooked their books to try to get money but I don’t think that’s going to be the case,” Barofsky told the Financial Times.

Banks that applied for help from the government had to show that they were financially sound — a hallmark of the program was that money only went to healthy institutions –  a requirement that could have prompted some to fudge the numbers a bit.

Last month, Barofsky said in a Congressional hearing that his office was involved in more than a dozen investigations into wrongdoing or fraud. He would not tell the FT exactly what crimes the banks may have committed, but he did say that he might inquire about securities fraud, wire fraud and false statement.

Barofsky said he hasn’t issued any subpoenas yet, but when he does, potential fraudsters will likely take notice, because “indictments can serve as great deterrents.”

Aside from looking into the financial status of banks before they got the money, Barofsky will also get to the bottom of how the banks actually spent the money.

The work of the Tarp Cop will probably please some, but not all. One government official griped to the Wall Street Journal that Barofsky “thinks he’s Eliot Ness.”

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st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Dr. Joshua Sharfstein is already hard at work at his new job. On March 30, Sharfstein’s first day as acting commissioner of the FDA, the government issued a warning: Avoid eating pistachios and foods containing the nuts, which may have been tainted with salmonella.What’s significant here is that the FDA moved so swiftly. On March 24, Kraft Foods Inc. found salmonella in some pistachios during a routine product test,and just a few days later the government acted, instead of fumbling in the dark like it did during the Mexican jalapeno pepper mess.

According to an AP story, the moves could signal a shift in how the FDA handles food safety.

“What’s different here is that we are being very proactive and are putting out a broad message with the goal of trying to minimize the likelihood of consumer exposure,” said Dr. David Acheson, FDA’s assistant commissioner for food safety. “The only logical advice to consumers is to say ‘OK consumers, put pistachios on hold while we work this out. We don’t want you exposed, we don’t want you getting salmonella.’”

Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, the president’s new acting commissioner who started Monday, made it clear staff needed to move quickly, Acheson said.

Sharfstein, who was plucked by President Barack Obama from his post as Baltimore City health commissioner to serve as the FDA’s deputy commissioner, is acting as FDA chief until the Senate confirms the nomination of Dr. Margaret Hamburg.

Putting Sharfstein at the helm of the FDA allows the government to have its pick leading the troubled agency.

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The new Maryland Insurance Commissioner, Ralph S. Tyler, said Wednesday he will convene a hearing to see if the $18-plus million severance package for former CareFirst CEO William L. Jews (at right) is too much.

Tyler is specifically looking to see if the $17.6 million plus $800,000 in interest package violates state insurance law requiring payment to former employees be “fair and reasonable.”

The company, which saw $5.5 billion in revenue in 2006, says it did not just come up with the figure out of thin air and claims it is in line with other nonprofit Blue Shield and Blue Crosses.

“The $17.6 million referenced in Commissioner Tyler’s release is made up of about $12.6 million in retirement benefits and deferred compensation earned over 13½ years as CEO and about $5.0 million in severance payments,” CareFirst said in its statement. “Further, several expert compensation consultants retained by our board have independently concluded that the benefits due Mr. Jews are reasonable compared with those provided by similar not-for-profit Blues Plans.”

Who’s right?

—BEN MOOK, Assistant Business Editor

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