Not all banks are taking TARP money.
Hartford Business Journal reports:
Many Connecticut banks are having second thoughts about accepting funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) due to concerns that the federal government will impose new conditions on those who take the money.
Gerald Noonan, president of the Connecticut Bankers Association, said he has spoken to officials from at least 20 Connecticut banks who were interested in TARP funds, but are now questioning whether it’s worth participating in the program.
“The Treasury is making rules up as they go along,” Noonan said. “Why should banks put themselves at risk for something that no one has explained or defined what the terms are? Banks that could use it are weary of what they’ll have to do down the road to get it.”
Wethersfield-based Connecticut River Community Bank applied for TARP funds last year, but when it received approval for $3.9 million in January, bank President and CEO William Attridge notified regulators that he was no longer interested.
Attridge said the problem is that the terms of the program are open-ended and banks that agree to take the money must comply with any future changes made to it.
There's much conflict over TARP in Texas.
The Star-Telegram reports:
Rivalry between normally polite banks is getting down, dirty and very public with some using the government’s TARP program as a handy target.
Just ask Alan B. White, the entrepreneurial founder-president of Dallas-based PlainsCapital Bank, who is lashing back at competitors who slam his participation in the U.S. Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program, aimed at jump-starting the economy. PlainsCapital received $87.6 million from TARP.
"I think it’s a cheap shot," White said of a slew of barbed, anti-TARP ads, billboards and statements released by competitors, including Fort Worth-based Worthington National Bank and First Financial Bank of Abilene, which has branches in Southlake, Keller, Boyd, Decatur and Cleburne and owns Weatherford National Bank.
There's more:
Anti-TARP billboards and newspaper ads for Worthington say, "Did your bank take a bailout? We didn’t," and "Just say no to bailout banks. Bank responsibly."
Worthington’s chief executive, Greg Morse, takes a different view than White.
"We don’t think that capitalizing on TARP funds is an opportunity," Morse said by e-mail. "Opportunity should exist for the private sector with private money, not government funds. We are trying to be a leader in our industry, a leader in our community and a leader to our children."
And the Worthington CEO defended his sniping ads and billboards by adding: "We think someone has to get the word out that solid and ethical banks exist."
When you bank at a non-TARP bank you are promoting non-TARPness(if that a word).
