During the 2003 -- 06 boom years, three agencies, The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Office of Thrift Supervision, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency gave out millions of dollars in bonuses to regulators of these agencies.

The bonuses were supposedly given out for "superior" performance. Records show that at least $19 million in bonuses was awarded.

There's been quite a bit of drama with the The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE: BX)'s proposed $6.4 billion buyout of Alliance Data Systems Corporation (NYSE: ADS). In fact, in January, ADS filed a lawsuit against Blackstone (but it was quickly dropped).

However, things got a little easier today (according to a piece in the Wall Street Journal, which is a paid publication). That is, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said it will place a cap on the liability for Blackstone if ADS's credit card segment implodes (up to $400 million). Hey, in light of the turbulence in the financial markets, this is certainly a material issue and should be a relief for Blackstone.

Of course, there are still other issues, such as the credit crunch and the slowing economy. Such things make it difficult to justify a deal for ADS.

Yet, in today's trading, ADS's shares spiked 17% to $52.22. Then again, the buyout offer is still at a hefty $81.75. In other words, the Street thinks that -- if this deal gets done -- expect a much lower price.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates DealProfiles.com.