Treasury sets up TARP auction

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WASHINGTON, July 27 (UPI) -- The U.S. Treasury said it expects to take in $248.5 million selling holdings of 12 firms in its effort to unwind the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

The department said it would auction shares of CBS Banc-Corp. of Russellville, Ala., Commonwealth Bankshare Inc. of Louisville, Ky., Diamond Bancorp Inc. of Washington, Mo., Exchange Bank of Sana Rosa, Calif., Fidelity Financial Corp. of Wichita, Kan., First Community Financial of Joliet, Ill., First Western Financial Corp. of Denver, Market Street Bancshares Inc. Mount Vernon, Ill., Marquette National Corp. of Chicago, Premier Financial Bancorp. Inc. of Huntington, W.Va., Park Bancorporation of Madison, Wis., and Trinity Capital Corp. of Los Alamos, N.M.

The Treasury said it was the first auction to unwind bailout program holdings to include preferred stock and subordinated debt positions of firms with no publicly traded common equity.

The department also said it might pool together individual investments to get the prices the it is seeking.

"TARP's bank investment programs were critical to stabilizing an economy in freefall and have already realized a nearly $20 billion positive return for taxpayers," Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability Tim Massad said.

"These auctions are an important part of our efforts to wind down the program in a way that helps support our nation's community banks and recovers additional taxpayer dollars," he said.

The Treasury said it expected to close on the auctions on or about Aug. 9 and 10, subject to customary closing conditions.