Two more banks announced plans Monday to return bailout money, citing heightened government oversight and their own strong balance sheets as reasons to withdraw.
New York-based Alliance Financial Corp. said it plans to buy back the $26.9 million worth of stock it sold the government late last year. It will also pay an additional $329,000 in accrued interest.
Numerous banks over the past few months have expressed interest in returning the money they received under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. To do so, Treasury Department officials say banks must be able to prove they are sufficiently capitalized to survive without it.
Alliance Financial cited regulatory restrictions and a changed perception of what the program was intended to do.
Originally intended to provide liquidity to stable banks, TARP has "subjected participants to restrictions and regulatory burdens that place Alliance at a competitive disadvantage to financial institutions which do not participate in the program," Jack Webb, Alliance's chief executive officer, said in a press release.
South Carolina-based SCBT Financial Corp. pointed to regulatory issues as a reason for its decision on Monday to return the $64.8 million in bailout money it received.
"We only took it with an abundance of caution," Robert Hill Jr., the bank's chief executive officer, told The State, a newspaper in Columbia, S.C. "Then, clearly the rules and sentiment around the TARP changed after the fact.
SCBT also announced an offering of 1.15 million new shares of common stock, which at current prices would raise more than $27 million.
At least twelve banks have already redeemed the shares they sold to the government, and many more, including two others this week alone, have announced plans to do so.
New York-based Alliance Financial Corp. said it plans to buy back the $26.9 million worth of stock it sold the government late last year. It will also pay an additional $329,000 in accrued interest.
Numerous banks over the past few months have expressed interest in returning the money they received under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. To do so, Treasury Department officials say banks must be able to prove they are sufficiently capitalized to survive without it.
Alliance Financial cited regulatory restrictions and a changed perception of what the program was intended to do.
Originally intended to provide liquidity to stable banks, TARP has "subjected participants to restrictions and regulatory burdens that place Alliance at a competitive disadvantage to financial institutions which do not participate in the program," Jack Webb, Alliance's chief executive officer, said in a press release.
South Carolina-based SCBT Financial Corp. pointed to regulatory issues as a reason for its decision on Monday to return the $64.8 million in bailout money it received.
"We only took it with an abundance of caution," Robert Hill Jr., the bank's chief executive officer, told The State, a newspaper in Columbia, S.C. "Then, clearly the rules and sentiment around the TARP changed after the fact.
SCBT also announced an offering of 1.15 million new shares of common stock, which at current prices would raise more than $27 million.
At least twelve banks have already redeemed the shares they sold to the government, and many more, including two others this week alone, have announced plans to do so.
published May 12, 2009, 0 Comments
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