Four banks have managed to receive approval from the government and have already paid back TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) money. They are:
- Signature Bank of New York – repaid $120 million
- Old National Bancorp of Indiana- repaid $100 million
- Iberiabank of Louisiana- repaid $90 million
- Bank of Marin Bancorp of Novato, Calif. – repaid $28 million
Note that all four banks paid back all of the TARP money they received plus a 5% interest. Not a bad investment for the government in an annualized basis.
Of course, this is next to nothing if you compare with the almost $200 billion dollars that’s been lended to the banks but for now, we as taxpayers will take anything we can get.
With recent fear that the government will intervene with business decisions if you take TARP money, no bank will want to take the fund if they don’t have to. Therefore, whether they have it or not won’t matter because they won’t use it to lend in case they are able to return it. So either way, the government just shot themselves in the foot with the whole TARP idea.
It’s unclear whether any of the big banks will be able to give back any of the TARP money soon, but allowing smaller banks to give them back is definitely a step in the right direction.
Now, let’s see who will return TARP money. I would hate to be the last bank to return TARP though, since that pretty much tells everyone that I’m really in trouble. Citigroup anyone? Wells Fargo?
{ 9 trackbacks }
{ 0 comments… add one now }