Big US banks to repay TARP within two weeks-Treasury

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Reuters) - U.S. banks that received approval on Tuesday to pay back federal bailout funds are expected to complete the transactions in one or two weeks, a Treasury Department spokesman said.

The banks will be free from restrictions on executive compensation, dividend payments and share purchases once they buy back their preferred shares from the government, the spokesman said.

Treasury on Tuesday said that 10 of the nation's biggest banks were approved to pay back a combined $68 billion of taxpayer money pumped into them last year to combat the credit crisis. (Reporting by Karey Wutkowski, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)