Treasury's Capital Assistance Program and Financialstability.gov

On Wednesday, the Treasury Department released the terms of the Capital Assistance Program, a program announced as part of Treasury Secretary Geithner's Financial Stability Plan.  The Capital Assistance Program is one in which financial institutions which have undergone a forward-looking comprehensive assessment (a "stress test") of their ability to continue lending and absorb systematic losses will have access to contingent financing provided by the U.S. government as a bridge to private capital in the future.  Fleshing out the the theoretical and practical details of the Capital Assistance Program, the Treasury posted a White Paper, Term Sheet, FAQ, and Application Guidelines.  Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher LLP has created a one-page snapshot of the details of the Capital Assistance Program capturing all the newly posted data on the program, available at: http://www.gibsondunn.com/Publications/Pages/FinancialMarketsinCrisis-CapitalAssistanceProgramUnveiled.aspx

In the spirit of public openness, and in compliance with the accountability provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Treasury has begun to post more and more information about the Financial Stability Plan, on a publicly available website, Financialstability.gov.  Though the site currently states, "This site is coming soon," the page already contains all the disclosures listed above about the Capital Assistance Program, and documents describing other key initiatives under the Financial Stability Plan, the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan, as well as webcasts and announcements about the overarching Financial Stability Plan. 



Adding Financialstability.gov to Recovery.gov and USASpending.gov, there are now three official websites where government financial recovery and stimulus efforts can easily be tracked.