10 Big Banks Get OK To Repay $68 Billion In Bailout Money

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Treasury Department has approved 10 of the nation’s largest banks to repay $68 billion in government bailout money.

The department says the banks, which were not named, will be allowed to repay the money they received from the $700 billion emergency rescue fund created by Congress last October at the height of the financial crisis.

The banks have been eager to get out of the program to escape government restrictions such as caps on executive compensation.

Among the banks that passed government “stress tests” last month and likely were approved to repay the bailout funds are: Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., and American Express Co.