How bout that....
With the wiring of nearly $10 billion to the United States Treasury, U.S. Bancorp and BB&T on Wednesday became the first large financial institutions to announce that they have repaid the government in full for the preferred shares it bought last fall under the federal bailout program. U.S. Bancorp, based in Minneapolis, said Wednesday morning it redeemed $6.6 billion in preferred stock from the Treasury. BB&T, based in Winston Salem, N.C., said that it had bought back the preferred shares for $3.1 billion plus a final dividend payment of about $13.9 million.
Later in the day, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley also announced the return of their federal aid, signaling that the nation’s top bankers are regaining their confidence after the financial crisis that shook Wall Street last fall.
BB&T, U.S. Bancorp, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and six other large financial firms won approval last week to repay the money they received under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, a move that would bring them close to cutting their financial lifeline from Washington.
Among the other banks cleared to exit the TARP were JPMorgan, American Express and Bank of New York Mellon.
“This was, in fact, an excellent investment for the American taxpayer,” Kelly King, BB&T’s chief executive, said Wednesday in a press release. “Our strong capital position allowed us to pay back TARP in a very short amount of time. But what’s important today is that we’ve repaid the government, and now we have a singular focus on the business of serving our clients.”
With the wiring of nearly $10 billion to the United States Treasury, U.S. Bancorp and BB&T on Wednesday became the first large financial institutions to announce that they have repaid the government in full for the preferred shares it bought last fall under the federal bailout program. U.S. Bancorp, based in Minneapolis, said Wednesday morning it redeemed $6.6 billion in preferred stock from the Treasury. BB&T, based in Winston Salem, N.C., said that it had bought back the preferred shares for $3.1 billion plus a final dividend payment of about $13.9 million.
Later in the day, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley also announced the return of their federal aid, signaling that the nation’s top bankers are regaining their confidence after the financial crisis that shook Wall Street last fall.
BB&T, U.S. Bancorp, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and six other large financial firms won approval last week to repay the money they received under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, a move that would bring them close to cutting their financial lifeline from Washington.
Among the other banks cleared to exit the TARP were JPMorgan, American Express and Bank of New York Mellon.
“This was, in fact, an excellent investment for the American taxpayer,” Kelly King, BB&T’s chief executive, said Wednesday in a press release. “Our strong capital position allowed us to pay back TARP in a very short amount of time. But what’s important today is that we’ve repaid the government, and now we have a singular focus on the business of serving our clients.”
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