A Hidden $34 Billion Bank Subsidy? Study Exposes How Taxpayers Are Subsidizing Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Other Large Banks

``if we had—let’s say we’re a big investor, we’re a mutual fund, whatever it might be, and we have $10 million to place somewhere. Well, if we go to a small bank, we’re worried. You know, we have to look at them. Are they safe? Are they following good practices? They could go out of business; we would then lose that money. On the other hand, if we go to one of the big banks—a Citigroup, a Bank of America—and we put our $10 million there, we basically know at this point the government is going to come in and bail it out. So we look at that $10 million on deposit with Citigroup or Bank of America almost the same way as we would look as buying a government bond.''