"Full Disclosure" Yes, I work for Johnson Bank. This is some information from our CEO, Dick Hansen. Maybe it will also be interesting to you. Thank you! www.johnsonbank.com/values

there were several reasons that Johnson Bank did not take the money. For whatever reason the gazette decided to just hit that one point.

Johnson bank is a Division of S C Johnson wax, and as of all their business ventures it is run in a responsible manor. No i do not work there, but a family member does. there are also no huge bonuses as you would like to think. they make an average wage and what little bonuses they do earn (yes i said earn) would have been affected by this. The Johnson family did this in the best interest of their employees, their clients, and their corporation

The problem is no one really knows just what banks are "healthy". Many of these toxic assets are hidden in balance sheets, or can not even be isolated; as they have been packed together literally hundreds of times.
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When TARP passed, the whole crowd that was saying "this is a loan" was OUT OF THEIR MIND! That was just a talking point to ram rod an awful bill through congress. All you need to do is look at citi. They have received over $100 billion in TARP funds in the form of an equity stake. Citi's market capitalization is now just over $5 billion! That means near $95 billion of the TARP $$ (tazpayer money) is GONE! The stock will never come back, and more and more billions in bailouts (not loans, as it will NEVER be paid back) will be needed to keep them solvent.
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Citi, AIG, and many of these these reckless companies that got suckered into this leveraging scam, were leveraged as high as 40-1! And that 40-1 is with multi BILLIONS of $$'s principal in assets. The fire is way to big to be put out now that all this leveraged debt has come crashing down.

It turns out I misspoke as well. This wasn't the CAP, this is the Capital Purchase Program of TARP. The government offer was to purchase $100M of (stock) equity in Johnson Bank itself, but with a requirement that the bank buy back 1/5 of the investment each of the next five years at the presumptively appreciated stock value. In this sense it's a secured loan, as the tazpayers would retain an interest in the company's assets until it's paid off. The (privately owned) bank said it didn't like that repurchase schedule and what it would do to their own liquidity, as well as issues of public perception and congressional oversight.
http://www.journaltimes.com/articles/200...

One other misconception people have is that the TARP funds given to HEALTHY banks are just cash, when actually they are LOANS that will be be paid back.

I don't believe for a minute that Johnson Bank declined this money because of any executive bonus regulation. They did it because it was what was best for their company. They are a workplace of choice and employ a lot of people in this community. If this money was going to hamper the effective way they do business today and possibly jeopardize their strength, I want to thank them for making the right decision. Johnson Bank is also not adding to the skyrocketing unemployment rate like some companies who have made poor financial decisions and investments.

ALMEG, I agree with you 100%.
BENNETONF1, you can't compare a baseball team to a bank. For one thing, the ballplayers wages are based strictly on supply and demand. We the public set the price on what we are willing to pay to go see a ballgame which in turn sets the price of a player. Furthermore, baseball franchises are not asking for a bailout. If you're asking for a bailout you have no business offering any "perks" or outrageous wages to your CEO's.Certainly not if they've just run the bank into the red.

Good job Johnson Bank! I have been banking with them for 8 years, and they are wonderful to work with. I think they go above and beyond in customer service! If they do not need to take any government bail out, then they earned any bonuses they receive! And the only people who need to know how much those bonuses are, is the shareholders and, of course, the IRS.

SuperDave, the TARP money -- at least the Capital Assistance Plan that Johnson is not participating in -- is INTENDED to be given to healthy institutions.
http://www.treasury.gov/initiatives/eesa...
http://www.federalreserve.gov/bankinfore...
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I'm aware it's confusing as it's a complicated program that was passed by one Congress and Administration and is now being managed by another and there are different sub-programs. But UNHEALTHY institutions are supposed to be identified and forced to merge with healthy ones, a policy that the US banking system has used for decades. This particular program is intended to give healthy institutions greater liquidity so that there is more credit available to the US economy as a whole.
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I think this Johnson Bank case illustrates both the strengths and the weaknesses of the TARP and CAP. At the same time, I don't think it shows that either institution has acted inappropriately.
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The hope and the fear for Johnson (and all of us) is that the economy does begin to stabilize. Should the current stress tests on the 19 major banks show some bad news, especially in one of the big four, nationalization (possibly called something else) is really the only remaining option, and that would be another earthquake for the banking system to absorb.

Associated bank took money. I bank at blackhawk state bank. They did not take any bailout money because they are small town and are solvent. I prefer small town banks to big ones, they care about their customers. Used to be you'd walk in and they would know you by name, now you have to show all kinds of ID and feel like a criminal at these big banks before they will give you any of YOUR money. Even if you were there for 17 years!!!

Regardless of if they asked for the bailout or not, it is nice to see that there are companies out there sticking to their values (how awful or good they may be).

In any tough economic times prior to now, has the government offered ANY bailouts? And the great majority of companies/agencies/ organizations survived due to budgeting the lower money to run. I am glad to see that there are places that are not taking the easy way out to jump-start their own ventures!

How can you complain about executive bonuses when atheletes make OBSCENE amounts of money?
Tell me how to justify $25 million for one year of baseball. It's BASEBALL. That almost $500,000.00 A WEEK to play baseball.

This illustrates a couple of things. First, the national government is incapable of properly administering the TARP money, since they are offering it to healthy institutions. Second, the real purpose of TARP is to give the feds more control over the banks. I would be interested to know ALL of the strings, and specifically which ones healthy banks are finding so objectionable. I mean, think about it. You run a bank - the feds offer you $100,000,000.00 and all you have to do is agree to certain "restrictions". Those restrictions must be pretty bad for you to turn down that much money. And notice the wording of the article: "Conditions of accepting the money include restrictions on executive cash bonuses and incentives". Conditions "INCLUDE" implies there are other conditions not listed here. But they only mention the exec compensation issue. Why? To push your buttons! (And I see that in the comments below that it worked quite well). This is a classic "class envy" distraction to draw your attention from the larger issues of what is really happening here. And that is this: the feds are GIVING the banks massive amounts of YOUR money, in order to get more power. And have you noticed how TARP has failed to achieve its stated purpose of freeing up the credit markets?

They feel the same way. They only reason they have been given is that it is because of the size of their Bank and the government wants to make sure that all of the larger banks are stable

I don't get it.Why are they being "forced" to take the money if they don't need it?

I can tell you a lot of banks that are not asking for money are being offered it. Wells Fargo also declined the bailout however, due to the size of the company they were forced to take the money they received.

Yes, Dawn is great.

People who are knocking Johnson bank should do their research as I have. When I got my home loan from them I asked an important question: Will you sell my mortgage? Their answer was "No". They don't your mortgage to some third party. Dawn M. Enerson also makes the process of buying a home a very enjoyable one!

Why are people complaining that they didn't take the money? I seriously don't get some of you. Absolutely nothing in life will ever make you happy. It's amazing.

What I find mindboggling is the fact that the government is offering and willing to release $100 million dollars to a bank that is not in financial straits and doesn't need it! Is there nobody in the government monitoring which financial institutions actually need bailing out? Apparently not if numerous banks are in a position to refuse the help. Didn't they learn anything from the way they ran the welfare system?

And maybe a little government supervision would be an issue. JMO

Wow can't give big bonuses to the already over paid pencil pushers (oops technology "mouse pushers") what a reason.

Anchor bank accepted 110 million from the bail out but they refuse to help home owners refinace instead for forclosing how is this even remotely fair they mess up we bail them out but they dont help i think people need to take a stand againist this practice

doc I agree. If General Motors had run their company like a business they would not be in trouble today. Johnston bank is a well run bank. Ford is also to be commended, the union worked with Ford.

Bellagio dont be so negative. Johnson bank is one of the finest family banks in America. Anyone that takes money from the Federal Govt is in big trouble. Why dont you go and ask them about bonuses instead of implying??

Metromilton - please place all or your personal financial information for all to see in this forum. Yes, I'm kidding. But, Johnson Bank is a private bank. If you don't like what their executive may or maynot make, do not do business with them. Since they are not taking government (meaning public assistance) they are certainly not obligated to share any information with the public. I find interesting that you are jumping to conclusions that there is a problem with the executive pay. But, the bank is doing OK without the bailout. That should speak volumes as to their financial status and most likely shows that the executives are doing what they are paid to do.

TCF Bank also gave back $361 million today as it also said it didn't need it and was not interested in the Government being involved, the way I see it is if your A successful banking instution why on earth would you want the Government to be involved with their track record for money management! Good greif Charlie Brown, I think these Banks that are taking the money will be further behind when all is said and done. Good for these Banks not taking the handouts and running things themselves!

Bellagio_Bound- Keep in mind that if the Gazette didn't put that sentence of "Conditions of accepting the money include restrictions on executive cash bonuses and incentives." this would not have been their usual negative article and would not have received much negative feedback! It also implies that executives get CASH Bonuses, What do you mean, Do they get Big Bags Of Cash? Of course not, yet this article implies that and gives the readers the negative outlook on the Bank that they where looking for. Don't get sucked in the people at Johnson Bank did the right thing here and its too bad that more Banks don't do this. Great job on showing ethics to all the Executives at Johnson Bank!

I'd like to see a listing of the "bonuses" these banks are doling out, when families are struggling to make ends meet or even make the next payment.

Do they realize how many "small fish" it takes to keep thier cash flow going????

I'm interested to know what other banks doing business in Janesville have accepted or turned down government bailout funds.

If they don't need it, don't take it. Also, if everything is working right why invite the government and its regulations in to mess it up? That is a change we don't need. Go Johnson Bank!

Bellagio, Would you rather they take your money and run like the other banks have done?????????

What a profound statement, nutty... pretty cynical Bellagio. This move impresses me. This is exactly what healthy companies would choose to do. We will regret excess government intervention.

a bank with scruples. refreshing.

Didn't they ask for it?