How Will Treasury Pick the Banks to Save? Just Trust Them

Over the coming months, the Treasury Department will be doling out $125 billion to financial institutions, in addition to the $125 billion it's already promised nine of the country's biggest banks. And it will be deciding which banks get taxpayer money in private, using a secret set of criteria.



Secretary Henry Paulson (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)


So far, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson has only provided a general guideline for the so-called Capital Purchase Program. It's "designed to attract broad participation by healthy institutions," he said yesterday.

But what is a "healthy" bank? Those looking for a more concrete guarantee that the Treasury will invest the money wisely will be disappointed.

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