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In reply to the discussion: Bernie Sanders Fed Audit (prepare yourself to be ticked off) [View all]lovuian
(19,362 posts)The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) is a program of the United States government to purchase assets and equity from financial institutions to strengthen its financial sector that was signed into law by U.S. President George W. Bush on October 3, 2008. It was a component of the government's measures in 2008 to address the subprime mortgage crisis.
TARP allows the United States Department of the Treasury to purchase or insure up to $700 billion of "troubled assets," defined as " A) residential or commercial mortgages and any securities, obligations, or other instruments that are based on or related to such mortgages, that in each case was originated or issued on or before March 14, 2008, the purchase of which the Secretary determines promotes financial market stability; and (B) any other financial instrument that the Secretary, after consultation with the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, determines the purchase of which is necessary to promote financial market stability, but only upon transmittal of such determination, in writing, to the appropriate committees of Congress."[3]
Congress Treasury and Federal Reserve
Banks that received bailout money had compensated their top executives nearly $1.6 billion in 2007, including salaries, cash bonuses, stock options, and benefits including personal use of company jets and chauffeurs, home security, country club memberships, and professional money management.[73] The Obama administration has promised to set a $500,000 cap on executive pay at companies that receive bailout money,[74] directing banks to tie risk taken to workers' reward by paying anything further in deferred stock.[75] Graef Crystal, a former compensation consultant and author of "The Crystal Report on Executive Compensation," claimed that the limits on executive pay were "a joke" and that "they're just allowing companies to defer compensation."[76]
In November 2011, a report showed that the sum of the government's guarantees increased to $7.77 trillion; however, loans to banks were only a small fraction of that amount.[77]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troubled_Assets_Relief_Program