January 3, 2009

Can a $400-million injection of federal bailout money to the "bank to the stars" in Beverly Hills really help revive the troubled U.S. economy?That's one of the questions the Treasury Department's inspector general is asking in a review of the decision to award bailout funds to City National Bank, The Times has learned.

The inspector general's examination of the funding for City National reflects growing concern in Washington about whether the banking bailout is working. In a private meeting Dec. 10, top financial regulators, including Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, acknowledged the difficulty of keeping track of the massive funding and measuring its effects on the economy, according to documents released Wednesday.