More banks -- many of them private -- get public money

The Treasury Department issued taxpayer capital last week to more than 20 banks that had not previously announced their participation in the government's $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program.

The names of the banks and the amounts they received were listed in a summary of recently completed transactions released by the Treasury Department late Monday.

BailoutSleuth also noted that we overlooked a release Dec. 23 by First BanCorp, of San Juan, Puerto Rico, that it had been approved for $400 million in taxpayer capital. Two other similarly named banks were previously selected for the program.

First BanCorp reported $24.5 million in the profits for the third quarter, up 74 percent from a year earlier. The company said earnings rose despite higher loan loss provisions, primarily tied to mortgages in the mainland United States.

Other banks that recently received taxpayer capital through the Treasury Department were Parkvale Financial Corp., of Monroeville, Pa.; HMN Financial Inc., of Rochester, Minn., and Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina Inc., in Newton, N.C.

Parkvale Financial sold $31.8 million in preferred stock the government. HMN Financial sold $26 million of its preferred stock, and Peoples Bancorp sold $25 million worth. Under the terms of the program, the stock pays annual dividends of 5 percent for the first five years and 9 percent thereafter. The Treasury Department also gets warrants to buy additional equity in participating institutions.

Many of the banks that got capital injections from the Treasury Department on Dec. 23 were privately held companies. That list included Nicolet Bankshares Inc., of Green Bay, Wis., which got $14.96 million, and Pacific Coast Bankers' Bancshares, of San Francisco, which got $11.6 million.

Pacific Coast Bankers' Bancshares is owned by more than 150 community banks, and provides correspondent banking services and other assistance to more than 500 community banks across the country.