High Fives for Synovus CEO After Tarp Exit

It was almost like Synovus Financial (SNV) had won a gold medal for banking.

When the Columbus, Ga., company announced plans to repay its funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program and then finally completed the transaction, executives were overwhelmed with an outpouring of support.

"Congratulations on being free at last," one analyst said during the company's second-quarter earnings call, drawing laughter from those who had dialed in.

"Ding-Dong the Tarp is Gone," an analyst from SunTrust Robinson Humphrey titled a research note.

Synovus officials were definitely on the banking equivalent of an Olympic high. Redeeming its roughly $968 million of preferred stock was the culmination of years of hard work, said Kessel Stelling, the chairman and chief executive of the $26.6 billion-asset company.

After Synovus officially repaid the funds last week, Stelling received "several hundred emails from employees, regulators and supporters" who were excited about the achievement, he told American Banker. The news caused "everyone to have a little extra spring" in their step, and Stelling encouraged employees to take the weekend off, he said.

"At the end of the day we paid back a loan that we owed money on," Stelling says. "We expect the same of our customers every day."

Before the repayment, Synovus had the largest outstanding Tarp balance. That distinction now belongs to Popular (BPOP) in San Juan, Puerto Rico, which owes $935 million.