Government Assistance for GMACAlly Financial Unwinding the.pdfVIP

Government Assistance for GMAC/Ally Financial: Unwinding the Government Stake Baird Webel Specialist in Financial Economics Bill Canis Specialist in Industrial Organization and Business January 26, 2015 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 R41846 Government Assistance for GMAC/Ally Financial: Unwinding the Government Stake Summary Ally Financial, formerly known as General Motors Acceptance Corporation or GMAC, provides auto financing, insurance, online banking, and mortgage and commercial financing. For most of its history, it was a subsidiary of General Motors Corporation. Like some of the automakers, it faced serious financial difficulties due to a downturn in the market for automobiles during the 2008-2009 financial crisis and recession, while also suffering from large losses in the mortgage markets. With more than 90% of all U.S. passenger vehicles financed or leased, GMAC’s inability to lend was particularly threatening to GM’s retail sales and dealer-financing capabilities. The Bush and Obama Administrations used the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to provide assistance for the U.S. auto industry, concluding that the failure of one or two large U.S. automakers would cause additional layoffs at a time of already high unemployment, prompt difficulties and failures in other parts of the economy, and disrupt other markets. The decision to aid the auto industry was not without controversy, with questions raised as to the legal basis for the assistance and the manner in which it was carried out. The nearly $80 billion in TARP assistance for the auto industry included approximately $17.2 billion for GM