US to put conditions on Tarp repayment

[ILOVEDNY]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f3bc75b2-2...44feabdc0.html

Strong banks will be allowed to repay bail-out funds they received from the US government but only if such a move passes a test to determine whether it is in the national economic interest, a senior administration official has told the Financial Times.

“Our general objective is going to be what is good for the system,” the senior official said. “We want the system to have enough capital.”

His comments come as Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and other relatively strong banks are pressing to be allowed to repay their bail-out funds. On Sunday, Lawrence Summers, President Barack Obama’s top economic adviser, told NBC’s Meet the Press that repayments could eventually help the government provide further resources to help the sector. Such a move could also allow healthier institutions to differentiate themselves from weaker banks and free them from constraints on executive pay, and other activities, that come with bail-out money.

“Not surprisingly different banks are in different situations; they are going need different levels of assistance of taxpayers,” Mr Obama told a press conference at a summit in Trinidad on Sunday, while promising: “I’m not going to simply put taxpayer money into a black hole.”

The official, meanwhile, said banks that had plenty of capital and had demonstrated an ability to raise fresh capital from the market should in principle be able to repay government funds. But the judgment would be made in the context of the wider economic interest.

[FMD]

I think the banks should repay the bail monies WITH interest, So, if Bank A recieved 1 billion, and the govt BARROWED that 1B at 3% then the bank should have to repay that 1B at 4%