Bailout Timeline: Another Day, Another Bailout

Bailout Timeline: Another Day, Another Bailout

In September 2008, the mounting subprime crisis finally burst into a full-blown financial crisis, leading to the collapse of a number of major financial institutions. In response, the Treasury Department has deployed hundreds of billions in taxpayer dollars.

To shore up the collapsing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Treasury placed them under conservatorship. Soon after, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 provided the Treasury Department with $700 billion to shore up the broader financial system.

Below is a chronology of major events in the bailouts' lives. It will grow longer as major events continue to occur.


Bailout List

Our bailout recipient list tracks the companies to which Treasury has committed money.
Bailout Map

In the bailout map, we track bailout recipients by state.
2008

October
8 bailouts: $115,000,000,000 (list)

Oct 1 The Senate Passes TARP
The Senate passes a revised version of the bill, stuffed with tax breaks.

Oct 3 The House Passes TARP
The House passes the bill, and the president signs the $700 billion Emergency Economic Stabilization Act into law.

Oct 8 Second AIG Bailout
The government restructures its bailout of AIG. The insurer gets access to $37.8 billion more in loans.

Oct 14 Paulson Rolls Out Bank Investments
The Treasury Department announces that it will invest up to $250 billion in the nation's banks via the Capital Purchase Program, a subcomponent of the TARP, and billed as investments in "healthy banks." Paulson announced nine major banks signed on for a total of $125 billion in investments. (More about the program here.)

Oct 3 Wells Fargo Buys Wachovia
Wachovia, rejecting a previous proposal with Citigroup, agreed to merge with Wells Fargo for $15.4 billion

November
46 bailouts: $90,285,574,000 (list)

Nov 10 Third AIG Bailout
The government restructures its bailout of AIG for the second time. Treasury invests $40 billion in AIG as part of the government’s now-$150 billion effort to keep AIG from collapsing.

Nov 12 Paulson Scraps Original Bailout Plan
Paulson announces that he's scrapping the plan to purchase troubled assets. The capital investments in the banks proved to be a "more powerful" means of boosting the financial system, he said.

Nov 14 Freddie Mac Asks for $13.8 Billion
Freddie Mac reports a net loss of $25.3 billion for the third quarter of 2008. To fill the hole of its losses, the Federal Housing Finance Agency requests $13.8 billion from the Treasury.

Nov 23 Citigroup Bailed Out
The Treasury announces that it will invest $20 billion more in Citigroup; this is in addition to a $25 billion investment in October through the Capital Purchase Program. The government also agrees to use up to $5 billion to help Citi absorb losses from a $301 billion pool of assets.

Nov 25 Fed and Treasury Roll Out Program to Spur Lending (TALF)
The Treasury and Fed announce the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF), a Fed program that will lend up to $200 billion to owners of highly rated asset-backed securities in order to spur consumer lending. Treasury puts up $20 billion to support the effort.

December
166 bailouts: $65,359,391,131 1 revenue payments: $172,000,000 (list)

Dec 19 Auto Bailout Announced
The Treasury announces that it will make loans to General Motors and Chrysler to prevent bankruptcy.

2009

January
150 bailouts: $43,312,893,000 (list)

Jan 15 Senate Votes to Release Second Half of Bailout Funds
Under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, Congress had the power to block the release of the second half of the $700 billion funding authorized by the bill. But after promises by the incoming administration about how it would spend the money, the Senate voted to allow access to the remaining $350 billion.

Jan 16 Bank of America Bailed Out
The Treasury announces a deal with Bank of America similar to the Citi deal. It will invest $20 billion more in Bank of America; this is in addition to a $25 billion investment in October through the Capital Purchase Program. The government also agrees to help Bank of America absorb losses from a $118 billion pool of assets. That agreement, however, is never finalized.

Jan 20 Barack Obama Takes Office
Obama is inaugurated as the 44th president.

Jan 26 Geithner Takes Office
Timothy Geithner is sworn in as Secretary of the Treasury.

February
109 bailouts: $31,335,982,542 (list)

Feb 10 Geithner Pitches New Bailout Plan
Geithner rolls out the Financial Stability Plan. Geithner promises to perform "stress tests" on the nation's biggest banks to determine their health and the necessity of more government investments, announces that the government will form some sort of public-private partnership to buy troubled assets from the banks, says he'll commit an additional $100 billion to boost the TALF and promises the administration will soon introduce its foreclosure prevention plan.

Feb 17 Stimulus Bill Passes, Limiting Exec Bonuses
President Obama signs the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which includes a section limiting the bonuses of the highest earning executives at firms that received bailout money.

Feb 18 Rollout of Mortgage Rescue
The administration announces its broad plan to prevent foreclosures and promote mortgage loan modifications. (More about the program here.)

Feb 18 Treasury Ups Limit for Fannie and Freddie to $200 Billion
Geithner announces that the Treasury is increasing its funding commitment to both Fannie and Freddie from $100 billion to $200 billion.

Feb 25 Stress Tests Begin
Bank regulators begin their stress tests of the nation’s 19 largest banks and promise that they'll be finished by the end of April at the latest. Treasury officials explain that the tests will be used to determine how much more money the banks need to survive a steep economic downturn.

Feb 26 Obama Administration Makes Room for $750 Billion More
The administration's budget blueprint suggests that the Treasury Department might need as much as $750 billion more to stabilize the financial sector.

Feb 26 Fannie Mae Asks for $15.2 Billion
Fannie Mae reports a $25.2 billion loss for the fourth quarter of 2008 and losses for all of 2008 totaling $58.7 billion. To fill the holes of its losses, the Federal Housing Finance Agency requests $15.2 billion from the Treasury.

March
69 bailouts: $82,148,541,000 5 refunds: $353,000,000 2 revenue payments: $395,000,000 (list)

Mar 2 Fourth AIG Bailout
The government restructures its bailout of AIG for the third time. Treasury says it might invest up to $30 billion more. Together, the Fed's and Treasury's commitments add up to $180 billion.

Mar 3 Fed Launches TALF
The Fed and Treasury announce the launch of the TALF.

Mar 4 Administration Launches Homeowner Bailout
The Treasury launches its plan to promote mortgage loan modifications and pledges to spend $75 billion on the effort.

Mar 11 Freddie Mac Asks for $30.8 Billion More
Freddie Mac reports a $23.9 billion net loss for the fourth quarter of 2008 and net losses for 2008 totaling $50.1 billion. To fill the hole of its losses, the Federal Housing Finance Agency requests $30.8 billion from the Treasury, bringing the total bailout to $44.6 billion.

Mar 15 AIG Pays Out Bonuses to Execs
AIG pays out $165 million in retention bonuses to executives who work in the business unit that was primarily responsible for sinking the company.

Mar 16 Treasury Announces Small Biz Program
The Treasury announces a program to spur credit markets for small businesses by purchasing up to $15 billion in securities backed by Small Business Administration loans. The program never gets off the ground.

Mar 19 Treasury Announces Auto Parts Program
The Treasury announces the Auto Supplier Support Program, a plan to provide up to $5 billion in financing to auto parts suppliers. (More about the program here.)

Mar 23 Treasury Announces Toxic Asset Program
Treasury Secretary Geithner rolls out the administration's plan to use government capital and financing to team with private investors to buy up toxic assets. Between $75 billion to $100 billion will be dedicated to the effort. (More about the program here.)

April
50 bailouts: $25,215,363,190 6 refunds: $683,540,000 2 revenue payments: $995,000 (list)

Apr 20 Treasury Trims AIG Aid to Recoup Bonus Payments
AIG and the Treasury Department finalize the agreement to provide AIG up to $30 billion more, but the Treasury trims $165 million from the additional aid and charges a fee for the same amount to recoup the bonuses paid to AIG employees in March.

Apr 30 Chrysler Files for Bankruptcy Protection
Chrysler files for bankruptcy protection, and as part of the restructuring, the Treasury Department agrees to loan Chrysler up to $8 billion more. The Treasury will get an eight percent stake in the company.

May
57 bailouts: $46,699,853,890 9 refunds: $735,320,000 565 revenue payments: $5,918,032,432 (list)

May 7 Federal releases the results of its stress tests
According to the results of the Federal Reserve's "stress tests," 10 of the 19 largest banks will have to raise a total of $74.6 billion in additional capital to withstand a dire economic scenario. Ultimately, all of the banks raise the money privately, with the exception of GMAC.

May 8 Fannie Mae Asks for $19 Billion More
Fannie Mae reports a $23.2 billion loss for the first quarter of 2009. To fill the holes of its losses, the Federal Housing Finance Agency requests $19 billion from the Treasury.

May 12 Freddie Mac Asks for $6.1 Billion More
Freddie Mac reports a $9.9 billion net loss for the first quarter of 2009. To fill the hole of its losses, the Federal Housing Finance Agency requests $6.1 billion from the Treasury, bringing the total bailout to $50.7 billion.

June
43 bailouts: $27,489,035,162 12 refunds: $68,352,729,000 27 revenue payments: $2,310,724,665 (list)

Jun 3 Part of Toxic Asset Program Indefinitely Delayed
FDIC chief Sheila Bair announces that the banks have been so successful in raising private capital that there is no longer sufficient interest in a plan to purchase their troubled loans. The loan program comprises one-half of the Public-Private Investment Program; the other, to buy banks' asset-backed securities, is still in development.

Jun 9 Treasury Approves 10 Banks to Repay $68 Billion
The Treasury Department announces that it has approved 10 banks to repay their TARP funds. The banks are JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, U.S. Bank, Northern Trust, Capital One, BB&T, American Express, Bank of New York Mellon, and State Street. You can see a complete list of the banks that have repaid their TARP funds here.

Jun 1 GM Files for Bankruptcy Protection
GM files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. As part of the restructuring, the U.S. government agrees to provide the company up to $30.1 billion more. In exchange, the U.S. will receive a 60 percent stake in the company when it emerges from bankruptcy.

Jun 10 Chrysler Finalizes Deal with Fiat, Begins Operations as New Company
The new Chrysler announces that it has finalized its alliance with Fiat, and that the new company will begin operations immediately. On June 29, seven Chrysler plants resumed production. Most manufacturing operations had been idle since early May.

July
29 bailouts: $10,296,334,694 5 refunds: $2,189,254,840 17 revenue payments: $2,577,839,497 (list)

Jul 8 Treasury Launches Toxic Securities Program
The Treasury names the nine asset managers who will participate in its program to buy toxic securities and says that up to $30 billion of TARP funds will be invested alongside private investors.

Jul 10 New GM Begins Operations
GM announces that its purchase of the company's good assets (and shedding of the bad) has been finalized and that it can begin operations as a new company.

Jul 30 Treasury Completes Exchange of Citigroup Shares
On July 23 and July 30, Treasury exchanged a total of $25 billion of its preferred shares in Citigroup for common stock. As a result, the Treasury owns 7.7 billion shares of Citi's common stock, a 34% stake in the company.

August
18 bailouts: $14,210,823,866 3 refunds: $140,000,000 598 revenue payments: $3,027,307,235 (list)

Aug 6 Fannie Mae Asks for $10.7 Billion More
Fannie Mae reports a $14.8 billion billion loss for the second quarter of 2009. To fill the holes of its losses, the Federal Housing Finance Agency requests $10.7 billion from the Treasury.

September
32 bailouts: $2,742,616,433 7 refunds: $403,938,000 17 revenue payments: $2,595,463,437 (list)

October
19 bailouts: $12,873,691,974 3 refunds: $88,400,000 12 revenue payments: $609,053,915 (list)

Oct 22 TARP Chief for Exec Compensation Releases Findings
The Special Master for TARP Executive Compensation releases determinations on the compensation packages for the top 25 most highly paid executives at the companies that received "exceptional" assistance -- i.e. those that were bailed out in the strictest sense of the word: AIG, Bank of America, Citigroup, Chrysler, Chrysler Financial, General Motors, and GMAC.

November
18 bailouts: $18,382,838,984 10 refunds: $368,618,000 596 revenue payments: $1,888,403,607 (list)

Nov 4 Fannie Mae Asks for $15 Billion More
Fannie Mae reports a $18.9 billion billion loss for the third quarter of 2009. To fill the holes of its losses, the Federal Housing Finance Agency requests $15 billion from the Treasury.

Nov 1 CIT Files for Bankruptcy, $2.3 Billion Lost
CIT files for bankruptcy protection. A $2.33 billion TARP investment is wiped out.

December
55 bailouts: $7,469,343,008 15 refunds: $91,851,152,000 42 revenue payments: $4,456,280,090 (list)

Dec 1 AIG and Fed Strike Deal to Reduce AIG Debt
AIG announces that it has completed two deals that, together, shave $25 billion off its tab to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, bringing the combined total it owes the Fed and the Treasury to about $62 billion.

Dec 23 Citigroup Returns $20 Billion
Citigroup repays $20 billion to the Treasury.

Dec 23 Citi Also Terminates its Loss-Share Agreement
Citi's $5 billion loss-share agreement with the Treasury is terminated. The Treasury still retains the common stock it received in exchanged for its $25 billion investment, so, together with the $20 billion reimbursement, the total outstanding aid falls to $25 billion from $50 billion.

Dec 9 Bank of America Repays $45 Billion
Bank of America returns all $45 billion to the Treasury.

Dec 23 Wells Fargo Returns $25 Billion
Wells Fargo returns all $25 billion.

Dec 24 Treasury Removes $400 Billion Cap on Fannie, Freddie Aid
The Treasury says that in order to preserve "the continued strength and stability of the mortgage market," it is removing the $400 billion cap ($200 billion for each) the Treasury Department placed on the aid earlier in 2009. For the next three years, the Treasury will cover Fannie and Freddie's losses, no matter how large.

2010

January
5 bailouts: $36,944,733 6 refunds: $448,506,421 23 revenue payments: $126,671,411 (list)

February
2 bailouts: $16,080,200,000 6 refunds: $7,997,020,718 584 revenue payments: $757,697,133 (list)

March
3 bailouts: $30,971,000 9 refunds: $7,206,296,735 9 revenue payments: $4,423,363,748 (list)

April
2 bailouts: $747,807 7 refunds: $6,123,135,420 30 revenue payments: $616,039,366 (list)

May
3 bailouts: $19,000,350,000 3 refunds: $8,086,474,158 550 revenue payments: $1,756,503,502 (list)

June
6 bailouts: $1,516,223,517 6 refunds: $5,445,910,825 30 revenue payments: $3,525,801,156 (list)

July
1 bailouts: $10,189,000 3 refunds: $418,698,000 22 revenue payments: $249,661,415 (list)

August
11 bailouts: $3,940,061,270 4 refunds: $142,318,000 509 revenue payments: $665,113,180 (list)

September
137 bailouts: $14,311,754,025 4 refunds: $6,065,811,117 55 revenue payments: $7,272,642,395 (list)

November
2 bailouts: $2,600,000,000 6 refunds: $13,661,108,108 546 revenue payments: $734,895,335 (list)

December
2 bailouts: $9,899,890 23 refunds: $14,155,268,288 47 revenue payments: $11,076,696,233 (list)

2011

January
1 bailouts: $1,003,227 6 refunds: $111,614,590 28 revenue payments: $461,810,866 (list)

Jan 14 AIG Repayment Plan Executed
In a complex transaction, AIG paid off its outstanding debt to the Fed with the help of the Treasury, which took a large stake in AIG as compensation.

February
2 bailouts: $3,100,000,000 10 refunds: $5,755,875,710 503 revenue payments: $585,515,792 (list)

April
4 bailouts: $2,350,946 6 refunds: $519,409,286 25 revenue payments: $223,707,456 (list)

May
2 bailouts: $8,500,799,991 10 refunds: $11,724,963,652 483 revenue payments: $1,387,655,795 (list)

July
1 bailouts: $200,000 37 refunds: $2,232,293,809 29 revenue payments: $576,625,000 (list)

August
2 bailouts: $6,600,000,000 47 refunds: $2,856,765,883 30 revenue payments: $13,404,042 (list)

November
2 bailouts: $13,800,000,000 3 refunds: $978,113,765 4 revenue payments: $1,360,000 (list)