Feds Receive $353 Million from Banks

The United States federal government has received $353 million from five banks. The money is repayment for bailout handouts that were given to banks throughout the country to keep the nation’s economy afloat. On top of that money, the five banks gave the feds dividends amounting to almost $6 million.

Banks give back money (Image: Flickr)

The main motivation for banks to repay the federal government is due to the fact that the feds are now taking a closer look at companies that received bailout money and are instituting harsher restrictions on how that money can be spent. A big reason for the tougher stance by the feds is due to the public outrage following the information that AIG gave more than $160 million in bonsuses to their employees despite receiving more than $100 billion in bailout money.

The five banks that repaid the government and now won’t be held to the tight restrictions were Old National, Iberiabank, Centra Financial Holdings, Signature Bank of New York and Bank of Marin. Those banks are located in Indiana, Louisiana, West Virginia, New York and California, respectively.

Of the $700 billion bailout plan, approximately $200 billion of it has reached the banking industry so far. Many banks are currently in the process of asking for more bailout money.