Watchdog Refutes Treasury Claim Banks Cannot Be Asked to Account for Bailout Cash

Treasury: Don't Jump to Conclusions

The report, SIGTARP believes, proves that Treasury can do more to account for the use of bailout money.

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"Treasury has engaged in ongoing efforts to obtain lending data from each TARP recipient, but this tells only a small part of the story," the report says.

Accordingly, Barofsky reiterates his call for Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner to require TARP recipients to submit periodic reports to the Department on their use of funds.

But it's not that easy, warns Treasury official Herb Allison.

In a July 15 letter to Barofsky responding to a draft of SIGTARP's new report, Allison writes, "We think caution should be exercised in drawing conclusions from this data. Although it might be tempting to do so, it is not possible to say that investment of TARP dollars resulted in particular loans, investments or other activities by the recipient."