SunTrust issues debt as part of TARP plan

SunTrust Banks completed a $1 billion debt offering as part of its plan to repay taxpayers for the $4.85 billion in federal aid it accepted during the financial crisis, the company said Thursday.

The Atlanta-based bank said the new senior notes are due in 2016. SunTrust announced its Troubled Asset Relief Program repayment last week, following a second round of stress testing by the Federal Reserve of the nation's 19 largest banks.

Last week, as part of the repayment plan, SunTrust sold $1 billion in new shares. The company has said the remainder of the TARP aid will be repaid using “other available funds." The U.S. Treasury Department must approve the repayment plan, and will continue to hold warrants for shares in the bank.