M&T Bank (MTB) repaid $700 million in Troubled Asset Relief Program bailouts, including what was owed by Wilmington Trust Corp., which the Buffalo, N.Y.-based bank recently acquired. The Treasury Department received $370 million in preferred shares from M&T and $330 million in shares from Wilmington through the TARP capital purchase program. With M&T’s repayment, the Treasury has now recovered $252 billion in paybacks. Current estimates show the bank programs included in the TARP capital purchase program will ultimately provide a $20 billion positive return for taxpayers. However, more than 500 banks still owe the Treasury and investments in distressed firms such as American International Group (AIG) remain unpaid, according to the Special Inspector General of the Troubled Asset Relief Program. And the Congressional Budget Office recently estimated when other initiatives are factored in such as the Making Home Affordable program, TARP will end up costing taxpayers $19 billion, a substantial reduction from earlier estimates. “Treasury currently expects that TARP investment programs taken as a whole – including financial support for banks, other financial institutions, and the domestic auto industry; as well as targeted initiatives to restart the credit markets – will result in relatively little cost to taxpayers,” the Treasury said. “The lifetime cost of TARP is likely to be predominantly limited to funds disbursed for Treasury’s foreclosure prevention programs, which were not intended to be recovered.” Write to Jon Prior. Follow him on Twitter @JonAPrior.