Back in the fall, when the government approved the use of TARP funds to help bailout big banks, Congress insisted on attaching strings of oversight to institutions that used the money. The government got some assets in return for the funds. However, now that the business of bank stress tests is almost over, some of the banks want to repay TARP funds, reports StockMarketFunding:

U.S. Bancorp, Capital One Financial Corp. and BB&T Corp. have all announced common stock offerings, proceeds of which will be used, subject to approval, to help repay preferred stock investments the government made as part of the U.S. Treasury’s TARP Capital Purchase Plan.

The idea is that these banks, which passed the stress test, are ready to get out from under government oversight and get back to doing whatever it is they do to make loads of money. This is not particularly surprising. And, if the government approves these banks to pay back TARP funds, it means that it is that much less for taxpayers to absorb down the road.