Most Banks Appear to Be Waivering on TARP Recap Program

Most banks have still not decided whether to participate in the Treasury Department’s recapitalization program, according to a cursory BankInnovation.net study.

BankInnovation.net looked at the earnings transcripts of 14 banks that reported their third quarter financial results this week for clues about their plans regarding the Treasury’s TARP program. We split the banks into four categories of participation: definitely, likely, maybe, and no/unlikely.

We pegged six of the banks as “maybes.” These banks were, by and large, still gathering details on the program. Those banks in the maybe category were: Wintrust Financial Group (WTFC), First Midwest Bancorp (FMBI), Fulton Financial Corp. (FULT), Cullen/Frost Bankers Inc. (CFR), Cascade Financial Corp. (CASB), and Texas Capital Bancshares Inc. (TCBI).

Three banks appeared from the statements of their executives during their earnings call to be “likely” to pursue the TARP capital. The banks — Virginia Commerce Bancorp (VCBI), Colonial BanGroup Inc. (CNB), TCF Financial (TCB), and M&T Bank (MTB) — implied during their calls that they had most of the information they needed on the program to make an informed decision and meet the Nov. 14 application deadline. TCF, for example, said that it was specifically “invited to participate” by the Treasury Department, which “informally” indicated to TCF that “we would qualify,” if the bank submitted an application.

Firmly planning on participating are E*Trade Financial Corp. (ETFC) and Northern Trust (NTRS). Northern Trust officials even said that the bank would submit its application before the Nov. 14 deadline.

Only two of the 14 banks indicated that they would not participate or appeared unlikely to take advantage of the program. S&T Bancorp (STBA) said outright that it would not participate. UMB Financial Corp. (UMBF) did not even raise the prospect of participating in TARP during its earnings call this week. We guess that makes the bank unlikely to pursue it.

But taken on whole, most publicly traded banks are considering it, or at least working on gathering the necessary information to make an educated decision on TARP. That’s the least Treasury could expect, we surmise. One point we can make with certainty: TARP is the No. 1 discussion topic during third-quarter bank earnings calls.