TARP Capital Purchases Remain Low

Capital injections through the Capital Purchase Program (CPP) of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) picked up slightly last week. The Treasury Department funded $40.95m in stock purchases from six financial institutions in the week ending April 17 after its $22.8m in injections funded the previous week ending April 10. Weekly transactions in recent months illustrate a steady cooling off of CPP activity, with the Treasury funding $54.83m the week ending April 3, down from $192.96m in late March. The Treasury made its largest daily injection for the most recent week ending April 17 — $13.18m — in Mocksville, N.C.-based Bank of the Carolinas Corp. (BCAR). The other five transactions, made in five privately-held firms, ranged from $9.96m for Wayne, Pa.-based Penn Liberty Financial Corp. to $2.82m for Lakewood, Colo.-based Omega Capital Corp. Treasury also invested $3.8m in a Tifton, Ga.-based firm, $3.69m in a Patterson, La.-based firm and $7.5m in New York City-based BNB Financial Services Corp. Treasury invested $198.89bn total so far through the CPP, but that figure slips to $198.42bn after the Treasury’s receipt of $467.31m from stock repurchased by seven financial institutions. The purchases aim to shore up financial institutions by supplying  fresh capital, bolstering investor confidence and encouraging lending. But large and small banks alike voice hesitance over keeping government funds. Morgan Stanley (MS) most recently joined the ranks of financial institutions saying they may consider TARP repayment, according to a Bloomberg News article. Write to Diana Golobay at [email protected]. Disclosure: The author held no relevant investment positions when this story was published. Indirect holdings may exist via mutual fund investments.