Bank wants out of TARP

Iberiabank Corp., which got $90 million in taxpayer capital through the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program, says it objects to changes in the program and wants to return the money.

The company said it has filed notice with the Treasury Department to redeem the preferred stock it sold the government, along with accumulated interest of $575,000.

Iberiabank is based in Lafayette, La. and has banking operations in eight states. It was approved last November for up to $115 million in TARP money. It finalized a deal in early December for $90 million.

Although Iberiabank initially thought it could use the money to help stimulate the credit markets -- as Congress intended when it approved the $700 billion TARP initiative -- new rules governing participants changed its mind, President Daryl G. Byrd said.

"We believe recent actions, interpretations, and commentary regarding various aspects of the program places our Company at an unacceptable competitive disadvantage,'' Byrd said in a prepared statement. "Our Board of Directors has determined that continued participation in this program is no longer in the best interest of our Company and its shareholders."  

Iberiabank is the only bank that has formally begun the process of buying back the shares it issued to the government. But Northern Trust Corp., of Chicago, said it also intends to repay the $1.57 billion in TARP money it received "as quicky as possible.''

Northern Trust drew criticism last week for splurging on three days of festivities tied to its sponsorship of a Professional Golfers Association of America event, the Northern Trust Open.

According to news reports, the company spent $100,000 to hire the band Chicago for a private concert, and paid undisclosed sums to two other musical acts, Sheryl Crow and Earth, Wind & fire. In addition, it flew employees and guests to the Los Angeles area for the event and put them up in some of the top hotels in the area.

Northern Trust said it did not spend any TARP money on the event, noting that the program prohibits the use of those funds for advertising, marketing and entertainment.