CIT Group, a New York-based lender specializing in making loans and providing insurance to middle market businesses, ran short on cash this year. If that happened to the average America family, they would be in big trouble. But CIT? Not to worry. This week they won federal approval to become a bank and thus qualify for up to $2.5 billion from government bailout funds. In so doing, CIT followed the path of Morgan Stanley ($10 billion), Goldman Sachs ($10 billion), American Express and Discover Financial Services. On December 24, GMAC, the finance branch of General Motors, also became a bank.

 

CIT Wins Approval to become Bank in Quest of Funds (by Erik Holm, Bloomberg)