Citigroup And Government Not Seeing Eye To Eye On TARP Repayment
Why (serious question) do they have to raise any capital at all? Isn't the fact that they're "the world's most global bank in a world that becomes more global every day" good enough? Would a free coupon to Tickle a Vickle Town do the trick?
The disagreements are related to last week's announcement by the Treasury Department that Bank of America Corp. won approval to repay its $45 billion in federal aid. The Charlotte, N.C., bank sold about $19 billion in common stock late Thursday as part of its repayment strategy.
Officials at Citigroup and Wells Fargo have prodded U.S. officials to let them proceed under similar terms, according to the people familiar with the matter. Bank officials are worried they could be at a competitive disadvantage if they don't quickly follow Bank of America by repaying their TARP funds.
Citigroup is looking to redeem $20 billion of preferred stock, while Wells Fargo got $25 billion from TARP. Citigroup executives have been told they would need to raise $20 billion in common stock to exit TARP, according to the people familiar with the matter. Wells Fargo also was told it would have to drum up billions of dollars in new capital
