Citi, Wells to Repay Bailouts: Last Big Banks to Shake Off Government Aid
December 15, 2009, The Wall Street Journal

Marking a major milestone in the year-long effort to rescue the American financial system, Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. have been approved by the federal government to pay back some $45 billion in bailout funds.

With such successes, the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) has shown that it is meeting its goals, gradually erasing doubts about the banking industry's overall viability. This was highlighted by huge stock offerings earlier this year by Bank of America and Citigroup.

"It just reaffirms how successful the program has been," said Ernie Patrikis, a former general counsel at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and now global co-head of law firm White & Case LLP's bank regulatory practice. "You go through the worst crisis since the Depression in such a short period of time. It's remarkable."