Biggest Banks to Repay $68 Billion in Federal Aid

Ten of the biggest U.S. banks will be able to return 68 billion dollars (49 billion euro) in federal aid, the U.S. Treasury has announced, a sign that the financial crisis is nearing an end, writes BBC News.

President Barack Obama welcomed the decision, but declaring that this does not mean that “our financial problems are over”. Banks are eager to return the funds received to escape the restrictions imposed by government, such as limiting pay for executives.

The Treasury has not specified the name which banks will be allowed to return the money, but JPMorgan, American Express, Bank of New York Mellon, BB’T, Capital One Financial, Morgan Stanley, State Street, Goldman Sachs and U.S. Bancorp have confirmed that they received the cash.

They had good results in tests for stress. All the banks except Morgan Stanley and Northern Trust have passed stress tests conducted by the government in May, tests that tried to determine if banks have enough capital to face further losses if deterioration in Further economic conditions.

Northern Trust has not been subjected to tests, and Morgan Stanley announced that attracted additional funds. The return fund could recover TARP fund, can theoretically be given to other institutions with problems.