Citi Announces $36.5 Billion TARP-Backed Loans
 Source: Associated Press
Citigroup said it was using $36.5 billion in taxpayer bailout money to boost lending even as growing political outcry put pressure on the bank to end a $400 million baseball stadium sponsorship deal.
The bank issued a report describing its plans for the new capital, much of which will be used to make government-backed loans, including $10 billion of home loans supported by Fannie Mae [FNM 0.60 --- UNCH (0.85) ].
Those plans follow the U.S. injecting $45 billion of capital from the government since October through the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
That high degree of government support has created a new political dimension to the bank's decisions.
Citigroup [C 3.74 0.09 (+2.47%) ] is considering backing out of a $400 million marketing agreement signed in 2006 with the New York Mets, a U.S. baseball team, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
That deal include naming rights for a stadium in New York.
Last week, U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a Democrat, and Rep. Ted Poe, a Republican, sent a letter to the U.S. Treasury requesting that it press Citigroup to dissolve the contract.
Last week, Citigroup canceled an order for a $50 million executive jet it placed in 2005 after politicians balked at the planned purchase.
Citigroup spokeswoman Shannon Bell said on Tuesday that the bank signed a legally binding agreement with the New York Mets in 2006, and that no TARP capital will be used for the agreement or for marketing purposes.
The bank has received $45 billion of capital from the U.S. Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program and has also issued $7 billion of preferred stock to the Treasury and the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp in exchange for the government guaranteeing a $301 billion portfolio of assets.
Other News:
|
