Citigroup Inc.'s $301 billion of federal asset guarantees, extended by the government last year to help save the company from collapse, will be audited to calculate losses and determine whether taxpayers got a fair deal.
Neil Barofsky, the inspector general of the Treasury Department's $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, agreed in an Aug. 3 letter to audit the program after a request by Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla. Barofsky is to examine why the guarantees were given, how they were structured and whether Citi's risk controls are adequate to prevent government losses.
The audit will take several months, and no deadline has been set, said Kris Belisle, a spokeswoman for Barofsky.
