Overseer: Banks Misused Funds

Are you surprised? “Many of the banks that got federal aid to support increased lending have instead used some of the money to make investments, repay debts or buy other banks,” according to The Washington Post. To be exact: Of the 360 banks that got money through the end of January, 110 had invested at least some of it, 52 repaid debts, and 15 bought other banks. A report released on Monday calls on the Treasury Department to require more detailed reports from banks about their use of TARP funds—a move the Treasury has so far resisted, saying that “it is not possible to say that investment of TARP dollars resulted in particular loans, investments or other activities by the recipient.”