Treasury offers TARP funds to insurers

WASHINGTON, May 15 (UPI) -- The U.S. Treasury said it would offer $22 billion in loans to insurance companies that qualified for federal assistance.

Several insurance companies scrambled to buy savings and loans after the government assembled the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program last fall as a bailout for banks.

After receiving tentative approval for the funds in April, the Treasury said Thursday that Hartford Financial Services Group, Prudential Financial, Lincoln National, Allstate, Ameriprise and Principal Financial Group were eligible for assistance, The New York Times reported Friday.

Although designated for banks, TARP funding has been used to help insurance giant American International Group Inc. and General Motors Corp.'s financial lender GMAC. Credit card company American Express, also changed its status to qualify for assistance.

"These funds would further fortify our capital resources and provide us with additional financial flexibility during one of the most volatile market climates in our nation's history," Hartford's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ramani Ayer said.

"You want the regulatory program to be as broad as possible," Financial Roundtable lobbyist Scott Talbott told the Times.

"If all it took was regulatory gymnastics, that expands the program," he said.