alan1
Gold Member
GEITHNER, HENSARLING ON BANK REPAYMENTS OF TARP FUNDS
REP. JEB HENSARLING: "If there are firms that wish to repay their taxpayer money, if the taxpayer money is at risk, if their relevant regulator certifies that commensurate with safety and soundness of the financial institution, they can return that capital, if this is an accurate assessment of your position, why wouldn't you take the money back?"
GEITHNER: "In those conditions, we would welcome it. It would be very helpful, it helps differentiate, it helps to show progress, it helps to underscore the basic point that the institutions of our financial system are in very different circumstances. But I just want to underscore what's really important...My basic obligation and our responsibility is to make sure that the system as a whole -- as a whole -- has the ability to provide the credit that recovery requires. And so we need to make a careful judgment about what policies are going to best promote that objective.
"Ultimately we have to look at two things -- one, do the institutions themselves have enough capital to be able to lend and the system as a whole, is it working for the American people for recovery, and that's the standard we're going to look at. But of course, nothing would make me happier..."
HENSARLING: "Just to understand you, there will be other considerations besides the individual institutions' financial stability?"
GEITHNER: "This is a judgment that I don't make. This is a judgment that the federal banking agencies make under the conditions established under the Recovery Act; they are in the process now of trying to make these judgments. The critical thing we care about is whether the system as a whole is in a position where it has the capacity to support the credit that recovery requires. That's the ultimate test."
HIGHLIGHTS: Geithner testifies on TARP
Now, that sounds to me like he thinks it's the government's decision when the banks pay back TARP loans. Why can't the banks go ahead and pay them back right now?
Oh, that's right, if they pay it back, then the government can't tell them how to run their business. You know, simple things like how much to pay people, and who to loan money to.