Banks have received billions of dollars from the government as part of the Capital Purchase Program (CPP) of the Troubled Asset Relief Plan (TARP) set up by the Bush Administration. Here is the letter they would love to send to Congress.
Dear Congress,
Thank you very much for the capital last Fall, but there are some things that we need to explain to you.
Most of us didn't need the capital, but took it because you browbeat us into accepting it, or we were so scared that we felt we had no choice.
Please stop calling it a "bailout." It was not a bailout, because you received something of value in return for your investment. The security you received pays you a healthy dividend, and it came with warrants to purchase our stock. Although most of the warrants are out of the money because of the panic in the market, investing is a long term game, and it is possible that five years from now, you will find that in the aggregate you made a great investment in the financial system. Also, remember that every single one of us that took capital from you is current on dividend payments.
We understand you are angry because of the losses we are taking currently, but quite honestly, and with all respect, you have run up a $10.8 trillion dollar loss in the country's finances since the late 1700's, and maybe you should take care of that before you criticize us for our considerably smaller losses.
You are a stakeholder in our bank now, but nothing more, so stop telling us not to play golf with our clients, or to stop sending our most productive employees on weekend trips when they make money for our firm. Normally, we don't put up with this much abuse from our preferred shareholders, but we cut you some slack due to your inexperience with capital markets.
Please stop hauling us in front of various Congressional committees to generate sound bites to display to your constituents back home. I would think you have enough of these already, and we have lots of work to do to get through this credit cycle.
Thank you, and please contact investor relations like all other shareholders if you have any further questions.
Sincerely,
Anybank
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
A Letter From A TARP Recipient To The Government
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4 comments:
Agreed on some of these counts. I was annoyed when everyone got angry because Wells Fargo was planning a Vegas promotion junket because the rumors are they didn't want the money. But it is also obvious Citi did need the money. If the banks want to really write that letter they should just give the money back. Unfortunatley they already spent it on acquiring insolvent banks like WAMU and Wachovia.
Wow, i am not sure what your intentions of this "letter" were, but you kind of come across as an ass.
You are a stakeholder.....nothing more....huh? do you mean shareholder? Nothing more?
Arrogant
We normally do not put with this much abuse from preferred shareholders.....huh?
Doesn't a company answer to it's shareholders?
These banks need cash, and those that "didn't" took it anyway. They screwed up by making bad choices which hurt shareholders. Now you are mad because the gov't is questioning handing out bonuses to these employees with taxpayer money.
I hope this "letter" is a joke. Please remove yourself from Div Net.
Why are some people sarcasm deaf? It always boggles my mind.
Not everybody has a sense of humor.
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