TARP Nearing End

From the AP:

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner affirmed Wednesday the administration's intent to soon end the $700 billion financial bailout program.

Geithner did not provide details, but said the government is close to the point at which "we can wind down this program" and end it.

"Nothing would make me happier," he told the Senate Agriculture Committee.

Some lawmakers have been agitating for an exit from the politically unpopular bailout program, approved by Congress at the height of the financial crisis in October 2008 as a way to supply banks with fresh capital.

Geithner also said legislation to bring transparency to the global, unregulated $600 trillion derivatives market was needed soon to restore confidence in the U.S. financial system.

Across the Capitol, meanwhile, a key House panel voted to slap new restraints on big Wall Street banks and to demand greater openness from the Federal Reserve. That cleared a significant hurdle in the drive for a sweeping overhaul of financial regulations, including the new derivatives restraints, and set the stage for a vote by the full House next week.