Weathering the Storm: Insurers Accessing TARP

On September 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy protection, unleashing chaos in the financial markets. In response to the financial turmoil, and in conjunction with other actions taken by agencies of the U.S. federal government and the U.S. Federal Reserve, on October 3, 2008, Congress passed, and President Bush signed into law, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, or EESA. The U.S. Treasury began implementing programs under EESA almost immediately. Following the change in administrations, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has unveiled additional programs. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of these programs in effect at the time of this writing and how insurance companies may access these initiatives.