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GMAC Financial Services Gets $7.5 Billion From U.S. Treasury

GMAC Financial Services announced Thursday that it will receive $7.5 billion from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, as well as other key actions that will significantly improve the company's capital position and access to liquidity.

by Staff
May 21, 2009
5 min to read


DETROIT — GMAC Financial Services that it will receive $7.5 billion from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, as well as other key actions that will significantly improve the company's capital position and access to liquidity.

These actions include approval by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to participate in the Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program (TLGP), and an expanded exemption granted by the Federal Reserve to originate GM-related assets at GMAC's bank, recently renamed Ally Bank.

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GMAC also reconstituted its board of directors and named two appointees from the U.S. Treasury, with three independent directors to be promptly named by the board.

"These actions represent another major step in stabilizing and strengthening GMAC," said GMAC Chief Executive Officer Alvaro G. de Molina. "Much like last year, 2009 is proving to be a time of landmark actions for GMAC -- executing the Chrysler agreement, launching a new brand for our bank, and now taking a meaningful step forward in permanently improving our access to cost-effective funding."

Capital Investment

In connection with the government's capital investment, GMAC has sold $7.5 billion of mandatorily convertible preferred (MCP) membership interests and warrants to the U.S. Treasury. The investment included $4 billion of MCP related to GMAC's agreement with Chrysler LLC to provide automotive financing to Chrysler dealers and customers and $3.5 billion of MCP toward the Supervisory Capital Assessment Program (S-CAP) requirement. The U.S. Treasury immediately exercised the warrants and GMAC issued an additional $375 million of MCP.

GMAC previously announced an agreement with Chrysler to provide automotive finance products and services to Chrysler dealers and customers.

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The agreement was approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court on May 12, 2009. GMAC will begin offering wholesale and retail credit to Chrysler dealers and customers immediately. In order to ensure an orderly transition of wholesale financing activities, GMAC has signed a cooperation agreement with Chrysler Financial Services Americas LLC.

GMAC has also entered into a transition support agreement with Chrysler LLC and the U.S. Treasury to aid in managing the risks related to expeditiously extending credit to Chrysler dealers and customers. The agreement provides GMAC with credit support for certain losses that may be incurred during the transition period, which allows time for GMAC to evaluate the creditworthiness of each Chrysler dealer.

As previously disclosed under the S-CAP program, GMAC is required to raise $11.5 billion of Tier 1 common or contingent common capital, $9.1 billion of which must be new Tier 1 capital. The $3.5 billion investment by the U.S. Treasury is new capital for the company toward this program and reduces the level of new capital required to $5.6 billion. Consistent with the S-CAP program requirements, GMAC intends to submit a Capital Plan to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago by June 8, 2009 with respect to the remaining capital required. While the U.S. Treasury has indicated that it may be willing to provide additional new capital, GMAC will evaluate other alternatives to meet its capital requirements.

The MCP issued to the U.S. Treasury has an annual distribution rate of nine percent payable quarterly. These interests mandatorily convert to common membership interests after seven years and may be converted in advance of that time by GMAC with the approval of the Federal Reserve if such conversion would not result in the U.S. Treasury owning in excess of 49 percent of GMAC's common membership interests. GMAC may only convert additional mandatorily convertible membership interests to common membership interests if certain other conditions are met. The MCP is also convertible by the U.S. Treasury upon the occurrence of certain events.

Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program

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GMAC has received approval to participate in the FDIC's TLGP for up to $7.4 billion, which would permit the company to issue new FDIC-guaranteed debt. In connection with receiving FDIC approval, GMAC is developing a funding plan which it has committed to provide to the FDIC and the Federal Reserve. The plan will reflect GMAC's management of Ally Bank's funding and deposit costs with a focus on diversifying funding sources and reducing the Bank's overall cost of deposit funding. GMAC and the Bank have also committed to maintain Bank capital at a level well above the regulatory minimums.

Ally Bank Exemption

GMAC received an expanded exemption from the Federal Reserve to allow Ally Bank, formerly GMAC Bank, to originate a limited amount of GM-related retail and wholesale assets, subject to certain conditions. Previously, GMAC was more limited in the GM-related assets that could be originated in the Bank due to section 23A of the Federal Reserve Act. Providing relief on these restrictions will enable GMAC to have more funding available for a majority of its automotive finance assets, which provides a sustainable long-term funding channel for the business. The extension of credit to Chrysler dealers and customers is not subject to the section 23A restriction.

GMAC recently launched Ally Bank, a new brand for its U.S. bank that represents an improved banking experience. The new brand is part of an effort to broaden and expand the company's customer base at the Bank.

Governance

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In connection with GMAC's approval to become a bank holding company, GMAC was required to reconstitute its board of directors. The new board will now consist of nine directors, four of whom have been named, two by the U.S. Treasury and two current directors. Three additional independent directors have been selected and will be promptly appointed by the new board. The two appointees of the U.S. Treasury are Robert T. Blakely and Kim S. Fennebresque. GMAC CEO Alvaro G. de Molina will remain on the board along with Stephen Feinberg as the Cerberus appointee. Two additional independent directors will be named at a later date.

In connection with the previously announced GMAC governance changes, the following independent and GMAC management directors on the board resigned, effective immediately, T.K. Duggan, Douglas A. Hirsch, Robert Hull, Samuel Ramsey and Robert W. Scully.

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