WASHINGTON, D.C. -

Federal officials announced last week that the early proceeds from General Motors’ initial public offering allowed the automaker to pass a significant threshold in money returned to the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

With GM sending $11.7 billion to the Treasury, the total amount of Troubled Asset Relief Program funds returned to taxpayers now exceeds $250 billion, according to that department.

Back on Nov. 17, the U.S. Treasury agreed to sell 358,546,795 shares of GM common stock. Then a week later as a part of the final settlement of that transaction, the Treasury received $11.7 billion in net proceeds. These proceeds have brought the overall amount of TARP funds returned to taxpayers to $252 billion, including repayments, dividends, interest, cancelled commitments and other revenues, according to federal officials.  

Treasury officials shared how they arrived at this figure:

—Repayments prior to GM IPO: $204.28 billion.    

—Profits from dividends, interest, warrant sales and other income: $31.04 billion.

—Cancelled commitments (Asset Guarantee Program): $5 billion.  

—GM IPO: $11.74 billion.    

—Total: $252.06 billion.        

In its October Two-year TARP Retrospective Report, the Treasury estimated that based on current market prices and the proposed restructuring of AIG the overall lifetime cost of TARP is expected to be approximately $50 billion.

Officials went on to mention the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act reduced the maximum authorization for TARP commitments by $225 billion to $475 billion from $700 billion.

After also accounting for the $252 billion in TARP funds that have already been returned to taxpayers, the Treasury reported that nearly 70 percent ($477 billion) of the original $700 billion has been repaid, offset with profits or cancelled.

Furthermore, Treasury officials noted taxpayers will also continue to receive further repayments and profits from TARP investments going forward. They indicated the underwriters of GM’s IPO have a 30-day option from the date of the original pricing on Nov. 17 to purchase up to an additional 53,782,019 shares of GM common stock from the Treasury.

If the underwriters exercise that option in full, the Treasury said it would receive further net proceeds of $1.8 billion.

Additionally in October, the Treasury announced that it accepted a GM offer to repurchase $2.1 billion of preferred stock issued under TARP — a transaction which is expected to occur in December.

“Our temporary assistance for the U.S. auto industry saved more than 1 million jobs across the industrial heartland of America and — like the overall TARP program — is on track to cost far less than anyone had first anticipated,” declared Tim Massad, the Treasury’s acting assistant secretary for financial stability.

“General Motors’ successful initial public offering is another important milestone in our efforts to recover TARP funds on behalf of the American taxpayer,” Massad concluded.