Wells Fargo Pays Govt. Back $25 Billion

Wells Fargo was one of the first banks to receive federal bailout money as part of the economic stimulus package and it will be one of the last to pay the government back what it borrowed. A Wells Fargo spokesperson stated that the company will return $25 billion to the government soon without selling any additional stock.

Out of the first nine huge financial institutions that received bailout money, only Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Citigroup have still not paid the government back. However, Bank of American and Citigroup both received aid on two separate occasions, with Bank of America recently having offered to pay back the $20 billion it took to help its acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co.

In order to repay money to the U.S. Treasury, banks have to get approval from their federal supervisor, show that they can easily be accessed through public equity markets, and be able to issue debt without the help of the FDIC. So far, no members of the Federal Reserve have issued any comments concerning Wells Fargo.

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