In late 2008 the Treasury announced that it would provide “exceptional assistance” to three institutions—Bank of America, Citigroup, and AIG—deemed to be vital for financial markets and created three programs—the Targeted Investment Program, the Asset Guarantee Program, and Systemically Important and Failing Institutions—to provide the targeted assistance. Through the TIP, the Treasury purchased $20 billion in preferred shares from both Bank of American and Citigroup.

This purchase was on top of an initial $25 billion investment through the Capital Purchase Program, and followed by a multi-agency government guarantee of approximately $118 billion of its assets offered through the Department of Treasury, FDIC, and Federal Reserve.

In December 2009, both Bank of America and Citigroup repurchased $20 billion each in their held by TIP. Currently, there are no outstanding investments for this program.