Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Are Insurers Next?-11

"Thanks, but no thanks. That is the message some insurers sent Friday to the Treasury Department after they finally got word that they were approved for federal assistance under its Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. ... 'You don't take TARP unless there's some weaknesses. It's not the happiest money in the world,' said Andrew Kligerman, an insurance-industry analyst at UBS. For months, insurers lobbied the government, while the companies, and their stockholders, waited for any sign that the capital might be coming. ... By the time the Treasury delivered the preliminary approvals, though, market conditions had changed. Lately, it has become easier for many firms seeking to boost capital to sell shares or borrow money from private investors. ... Meanwhile, corporate executives have seen firms that do take TARP money come under government and public scrutiny. Now efforts are under foot at several banks to repay TARP funds", my emphasis, Liam Pleven and Damian Paletta at the WSJ, 16 May 2009.

Shocking. A TARP funds recipient could "come under ... public scrutiny". How dare Joe Sixpack wonder where these billions are going.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The billion$ black hole...

It is the duty of all Americans to stabilize the banking system... so Geithner, Bernanke and Summers can get credit flowing again...

Quiet Joe Sixpack... get back to shoveling your dollars into the black hole...

Roger CPA Review Staff Writers said...

The nerve of some taxpayers! :P