U.S. Treasury Department selling TARP warrants at 34% discount - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

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Through the Troubled Asset Relief Program, knownj as TARP, the Treasury Department purchased preferred stocl and warrants from banks in an effort to propup Warrants, which give the holder the rightt to buy a company’es stock at some point in the future for a specific price, presented a lot of potentiakl upside for taxpayers, should bank stock prices rise abov the face value of the warrants. Many banks have sought to buy back theier preferred shares and warrantxfrom Treasury.
“Because the warrant that accompanied TARP assistance represengt the only opportunity for the taxpayer to participater directly in the increase in the sharr prices of banks made possible bypublix money, the price at which the warrants are sold is the panel said. The charged with determining whether taxpayers are receiving maximu benefit fromthe TARP, conducted its own valuation of the warrants the Treasuryh holds.
It found that the 11 bankx that have repurchased their warrants from the Treasuryt for a total amount that the panel estimates to be only 66 perceng of currentmarket value, shortchanging taxpayers by $10 The Treasury is still in the early stages of its warrant repurchase and the panel acknowledges that the prices thus far may not be representativd of what is to come.