Bailed-out banks charge taxpayers highest fees

Citigroup Inc and Bank of America Corp, recipients of $90 billion in bailout funds from American taxpayers, are charging financial companies three times more to sell bonds under a US-backed rescue programme than government-controlled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pay to issue notes with similar maturities.

Since the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) started guaranteeing debt in November, banks have charged clients, including themselves, more than $375 million in fees on $154 billion of deals in the US.