It's Payback Time: Four Banks Give Back TARP Cash

Let the TARP repayments begin.

Today, four banks (Signature Bank, Old National Bancorp, Iberiabank and Bank of Marin Bancorp) became the first wave in what's sure to be a decent set of firms to repay money borrowed under the U.S. government's Troubled Asset Relief Plan. In so many words, the banks said "we're sick of your rules, man" as the reason they were paying the U.S. back.

Although the dollar amounts that these banks took under TARP certainly had something to do with their making the repayments now (combined, they repaid less than $400 million, as compared to the billions that several larger firms have borrowed under the plan), it's noteworthy that these banks aren't the largest or most well known in the country, as it shows that even the little guy, who pays its bankers fewer dollars than the big guys, doesn't want to play by Uncle Sam's new (bonus) rules.