Recall that Wells Fargo (WFC) CEO John Stumpf was an early critic of the TARP program, specifically the fact that top banks had no choice to accept funds or not. It was sort of assumed that Wells Fargo would likely be one of the earliest to pay back the taxpayer funds. But it hasn't turned out that way, notes Breakingviews.

The big bank, which acquired Wachovia, still owes the $25 billion and is stuck paying more than $1 billion a year on those preferred shares. The rhetoric about the evils of TARP has gone away. People, however, still wonder when the bank will be able to pay back the bailout bucks. It would rather be in the company of JPMorgan Chase (JPM) than Citigroup (C) and Bank of America (BAC). The conventional view is that Wells Fargo would like to avoid another common stock sale. Breakingviews suggests that the bank might be able to payoff its obligation and avoid a common stock sale when you take the end of the preferred dividends into account. 

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