Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)

TARP Recipients' PACs and Lobbyists Donated $6 Million and Hosted 70 Fundraisers for Members

Aug 28, 2009 by Amanda Adams*

A new report by Public Citizen says that representatives of the banks that received the most money from the federal bailout have spent millions of dollars in campaign donations to Members of Congress. The study was based on the 10 banks that received the most funds under the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) and of five trade associations. Public Citizen analyzed fundraiser invitations collected by the Sunlight Foundation and campaign contribution disclosures.

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TARP'd Citigroup Leverages Again

Aug 27, 2009 by Craig Jennings

It looks like government-sponsored Citigroup has ambled back to the racetrack, cash in hand, ready to put big bucks down on Long Nose in the third.

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Treasury's Shrewd Investment?

Aug 24, 2009 by Craig Jennings

In a ploy to recapitalize Citigroup, Inc., the Department of Treasury converted last month a portion of its investment in the bank from preferred stock, which would have given Treasury an 8% return on its "investment" annually, to common stock (i.e. what is traded in the stock market), which guarantee nothing. So far, the gamble has paid off as Citi's shares have increased considerably in value since its purchase.

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How Can You Get Treasury to Stand Behind You at the Roulette Table?

Aug 21, 2009 by Craig Jennings

That's what Special Inspector General for the TARP (SIGTARP) Neil Barofsky wants to know.

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TARP'd Banks Back Getting Back in the Lending Game?

Aug 18, 2009 by Craig Jennings

The Treasury Department released its June Monthly Bank Lending Survey, and the results are...mixed. Overall, outstanding loan balances for the 22 banks receiving TARP funds fell by 1 percent in June, but the new loan originations increased by 13 percent. Looking closer at the data reveals that outstanding loans to consumers fell by 1 percent, while new loans to consumers increased by 9.7 percent in the same period.

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Coming Soon: TARP Lobbying Rules

Aug 7, 2009 by Amanda Adams*

According to The Hill, the Treasury Department is waiting for the administration's approval before finalizing restrictions on lobbying for Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funding, only ten months after the program began.

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TARP IG Reports Underscore Need for Better Transparency in Financial Bailout

Two recent reports by the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), Neil Barofsky, provide useful information and stand in sharp contrast to the Treasury Department's attempt to provide comparable transparency for the program, also known as TARP. One report clearly presents existing TARP information, while the other supplies new data that Treasury should be providing. In both cases, the reports highlight changes Treasury should make to how it conducts and presents TARP data.

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"Not Consistent With Independence"

Jul 28, 2009 by Craig Jennings

On Sunday (July 26) Federal Reserve Bank chief Ben Bernanke sat down with Jim Lehrer of PBS's News Hour to defend recent bold actions of the central bank to shore the nation's financial system. Specifically, Congress and many Americans question the wisdom of engineering a $29 billion bailout of Bear Stearns (as competitor Lehman Brothers lay dying in a pool of its own red ink); the extension of over $2 trillion in loans and loan guarantees using who-knows-what as collateral; and a doubling of the monetary base.

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SIGTARP Report Calls for More Bank Info

Jul 20, 2009 by Craig Jennings

This morning the Special Inspector for TARP released a report based on a survey of some 360 financial institutions that received TARP funds. The report finds that:

Many banks reported that TARP funds allowed them to increase lending for residential and commercial loans, small business loans, credit card loans, and other types of lending. Most firms reported multiple and sometimes interrelated uses; a majority of respondents’ reported that they used the funds primarily for lending, building capital reserves and investing...

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