U.s. Treasury | featured news

Treasury updated its projections for the cost of the 2008 Troubled Asset Relief Program, saying that for the first time the amount of funds that has been returned to taxpayers exceeds $250 billion.

President Barack Obama on Tuesday interviewed investment banker Roger Altman, a former Treasury official, as a candidate to replace departing economic adviser Larry Summers, a White House official said.

The upcoming initial public offering of General Motors Co will be open to the widest possible range of investors, including both overseas funds and U.S. retail buyers, the U.S. Treasury said on Friday.

Election watchdogs have directed Joe Biden's 2008 presidential campaign to pay the U.S Treasury more than $219,000 to resolve issues caused by sloppy bookkeeping and accepting excessive contributions, including a discounted flight on a private jet.

The Treasury Department said Monday it will begin selling the stake it owns in Citigroup Inc., which could result in a profit to the government of about $7.5 billion. Government received 7.7B shares in exchange for $25B it gave the banking firm during credit crisis.

China, the largest foreign holder of U.S. Treasurys, sold a net $5.8 billion of the government's debt in January on top of more than $34 billion in December. It also continued shifting its holdings into longer-term paper.

The U.S. Treasury said its foreclosure-prevention program has cut mortgage payments for about 947,000 households, at least temporarily.

China gave up its title to Japan as the largest holder of U.S. Treasury securities in December as foreigners bought U.S. assets at a brisk pace.

The department persuaded some big banks to pay more than market estimates to repurchase warrants issued to the government during the financial crisis, suggesting taxpayers could benefit from costly financial-rescue programs.

The Treasury earned $936 million from the sale of J.P. Morgan warrants, more than than the offer made by the Wall Street firm to directly repurchase the warrants.