Another bank has decided to repurchase the preferred shares it sold the government in exchange for bailout funding.
Pennsylvania-based FNB Corp. said it would pay the Treasury Department $100.3 million for the shares. The bank received $100 million under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The balance represents accrued dividend payments.
"We believe that our repurchase of the preferred shares is in the best long-term interest of our shareholders," said Stephen J. Gurgovits, the bank's chief executive.
FNB is just the latest in a string of banks that have rushed to return bailout money, citing concerns about an uncertain and unwelcoming regulatory environment that has included limits on executive pay and other spending.
Banks that got taxpayer capital through TARP had to prove they were financially sound. Many have since concluded that the relatively cheap money available from the Treasury is not worth the price of increased operational oversight.
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