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Mississippi-based banks say 'no' to TARP.

Article Excerpt
On Oct.28, the nation's largest, capital-strapped financial institutions lined up to accept assistance under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), a component of the U.S. Treasury Department's Capital Purchase Program (CPP). The equity investments ranged from $2 billion at State Street Corporation of Boston to $25 billion at CitiGroup Inc. of New York, JPMorgan Chase & Co. of New York and Wells Fargo & Company of San Francisco.

None of these transactions directly affected Mississippi, but more than 20 privately-held financial institutions received TARP relief Nov. 14, and one, Regions Financial Corp. of Birmingham, Ala., is a major player in the Mississippi banking community. It sold $3.5 billion in preferred shares in the company to the U.S. Treasury.

"This government investment program is an important step in supporting consumers and businesses that will drive economic recovery and growth," said Dowd Ritter, Regions' chairman, president and CEO. "These funds will strengthen our Tier 1 capital to approximately 10.5 percent and enable us to continue lending where our high...