WASHINGTON (AP) — The Treasury Department says that an investment program set up during the financial crisis to buy toxic assets from banks is showing a $1.7 billion gain.
The department has committed $22.1 billion in taxpayer funds to the Public-Private Investment Program, which was created in March 2009. That money has been used to set up funds that have invested in mortgage-backed securities and other financial assets. The goal is to take those assets off the books of large banks that were facing huge losses from bad real estate investments during the housing bubble.
The department has earned more than $500 million in dividends and other profits from the investments, Treasury says. And Treasury’s share of the securities held in the funds has increased in value by $1.2 billion.