Banks get green light on TARP payback

No one is really surprised that 10 banks got the okay to repay their TARP funds. Nearly $70 billion will be paid back by JPMorgan Chase & Co., American Express, Goldman Sachs, U.S. Bancorp, Capital One Financial, Bank of New York Mellon, State Street, BB&T, Morgan Stanley and Northern Trust. 

It would be premature to write off three big consumer banks--Citigroup, Wells Fargo & Co. and Bank of America--that did not win approval to repay their funds. Similarly, it would be unwise to interpret this as clean bill of health for those that received approval.

The biggest wild card and the biggest threat to the financial bailout is that all this might prove way too premature. It would be a disaster if the economy worsens even more, and these banks are again forced into constrained capital situations. As if on cue, the Congressional Oversight Panel for the government's $700 billion financial rescue effort issued a report saying the Federal Reserve used a "conservative and reasonable" approach in its stress tests--the worst-case scenario did not go far enough. Some are now calling for an immediate re-do of the stress tests with more realistic parameters.   

For more:
- here's some background from the AP

Related Articles:
Next steps in TARP repayment efforts
Bank of America nearing the finish line
Update: Banks repaying TARP funds
Wells Fargo sticks to capital-raising plans
Bank of America raises $13.5 billion