Jan. 1-A Mount Airy-based financial institution has repaid $2 million it got from the federal TARP program, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced this week. Source: Mt. Airy News, Jan. 1, 2011

A Mount Airy-based financial institution has repaid $2 million it got from the federal TARP program, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced this week. “We just didn’t need that insurance policy anymore,� Surrey Bancorp President Ted Ashby said Friday of funds received through the Troubled Asset Relief Program that was implemented to maintain stability within the U.S. financial community. Surry Bancorp is the parent company of Surrey Bank & Trust, which has three offices in Mount Airy, one in Pilot Mountain and another in Stuart, Va. With its repayment to the government, the local institution achieved a distinction in comparison to others throughout the region. “We’re the first community bank to do that,� Ashby said. The federal TARP funds were made available two years ago to buy assets and equity from financial institutions around the country in order to bolster the financial sector in the wake of the subprime mortgage crisis that threatened the industry. The federal bailout originally was expected to cost taxpayers $356 billion, but that has been greatly scaled down in recent estimates. Some of the country’s largest banking corporations took advantage of the funding availability, in addition to some of the smallest. Ashby explained that Surry Bancorp was encouraged by North Carolina’s commissioner of banking to enter the program in 2008, not because it was experiencing financial difficulties but out of concern for the future. Conditions then were “very fragile,� added the official of the community banking corporation founded in 1996. There was concern that operating capital might not be available to the Mount Airy institution if needed, and about decreasing values of assets on which it had lent money. Participation in the TARP program was a just-in-case move, a hedge to keep the company viable if conditions deteriorated, as explained by Ashby. “As it worked out, we’ve been able to make money,� he said. Surry Bancorp was under the Capital Purchase Program (CPP) of the TARP package, which was available to banks with healthier ratings. The Mount Airy company is among the six latest banks around the country to repay their TARP money through the repurchasing of program investments, the Treasury Department said in a Wednesday announcement. The others are located in Connecticut, Indiana, Nebraska, Kansas and California. Along with repurchasing all outstanding CPP preferred shares from the federal government’s original investment in the institution totaling $2 million, Surry Bancorp paid accrued dividends of $12,222. It also repurchased additional preferred shares that the Treasury Department obtained from exercising warrants totaling $100,000 and paid accrued dividends on those additional preferred shares amounting to $1,100. Total proceeds to taxpayers from the repayment by the Mount Airy-based firm were $2.1 million. Of the overall TARP disbursements of $389 billion, repayments to the government by recipients now total $270 billion, counting the latest batch including Surry Bancorp. This includes the original TARP money along with income from dividends, interest and the sale of securities. Contact Tom Joyce at tjoyce@mtairynews.com or at 336-719-1924 Read more: Mount Airy News - Surrey Bancorp repays 2 million in TARP funds Reference: www.mtairynews.com