Yeah they sent in Ninjas and “forced” them to take the money.
Sorry honey, I was forced to have sex with that stripper!
From what I’ve heard, the big banks were “encouraged” to take the TARP so that there wouldn’t be a bad perception for those that really needed it. I’m not defending that... I’m just reporting what I’ve heard.
No, there were no ninjas needed, there was oppressive government regulation instead. Perhaps you should read up on it. You’ll find there were several banks on the TARP list that were strongly opposed to TARP funding.
As others have commented, certain banks were forced by the feds to take the money. Wells Fargo, for example, has suspended or reduced dividends in order to pay the TARP money back as soon as possible and get the camel’s nose back out from under the tent. (Of course, in the banking world that is never completely possible as you are always subject to the regulators.)