Bank Bailout | featured news

The U.S. Troubled Asset Relief Program, which risked $700 billion of government funds to bail out troubled banks and automakers, will cost taxpayers a mere $25 billion, according to an estimate released on Monday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

The ultimate size will depend on whether Dublin merely tries to shore up and restructure its crippled banks, or whether a larger package is offered to give it more breathing room.

The mortgage-finance company warned that foreclosure delays could lead to higher costs, as it asked the Treasury to provide a $2.5 billion infusion.

The total cost to rescue and then overhaul mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could reach $685 billion, according to estimates by Standard & Poor's.

Freddie Mac posts $4.1 billion loss for third quarter, seeks additional $100 million in aid.

The housing and mortgage markets aren't likely to improve much over the next year, which will make it harder for the government to reduce its support of the sector, Freddie Mac's chief executive said on Monday.

That figure, projected through 2013, represents a worst-case scenario that assumes a double-dip recession, the Federal Housing Finance Agency says. The finance giants have so far received about $148 billion in taxpayer funds.

The former chief executive of Park Avenue Bank pleaded guilty to charges that he attempted to defraud the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

The government's giant bank bailout may well have averted a second Great Depression, economists say, but a lot of voters aren't buying it. Support for the program is turning into a kiss of death for many in Congress.

American International Group Inc and the U.S. government agreed on a plan that would see the insurer repay taxpayers fully for bailing it out at the height of the financial crisis.