The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008--Procurement Issues

On Oct. 3, 2008, President Bush signed into law the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA), P.L. 110-343. To stabilize the U.S. financial markets and the banking system, among other items, EESA authorized the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). EESA grants the Department of the Treasury broad authority to buy up to $700 billion of troubled assets and permits Treasury to purchase and insure mortgages and securities based on mortgages. When EESA passed, TARP was expected to focus on the purchase of mortgage-backed securities and whole loans. Treasury’s strategy, however, has shifted to investing directly in financial institutions through the Capital Purchase Program (CPP), which is designed to provide financial institutions additional capital through the purchase of senior preferred stock.