The government says it will auction off warrants it received from two giant insurance companies as part of its efforts to recoup costs of the $700 billion financial bailout, The Associated Press reports.
The Treasury Department announced it will auction warrants of The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. and Lincoln National Corp. over the next several weeks. A warrant gives the purchaser to the right to buy common stock at a fixed price.
The government obtained the warrants when it provided Hartford, Lincoln National and several other major life insurance companies with billions of dollars of support in the spring of 2009 to help them shore up their capital positions in the wake of major investment losses.
