Two days before the end of 2009, the
US Treasury pumped another $3.8 billion into GMAC, in the process
upping its stake to 56 percent from 35 percent; private equity firm
Cerberus is the next biggest shareholder with 14.9 percent (see pie
chart).

The government’s stake could yet rise to
almost 80 percent if it opts to convert more of its stake to common
equity.

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GMAC also injected $1.3 billion into its
banking unit, Ally Bank, to satisfy the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation and other regulators and to support its main auto
lending business.

The December bailout came on top of previous
direct federal aid totalling $12.5 billion for GMAC, the former
finance unit of General motors.

As a result of a disastrous foray into
mortgage lending via its ResCap unit during the US housing boom,
GMAC has posted losses of $13 billion in the past three years. And
the losses continue: in the third quarter of 2009, GMAC reported a
loss of $767 million and for the fourth quarter it has said it will
take a pretax charge of $3.8 billion.

“These decisive balance-sheet actions and
resulting capital infusions are intended to minimise the impact on
GMAC and Ally Bank of any significant future losses related to
ResCap’s legacy mortgage business,” GMAC chief executive Michael
Carpenter said in a statement.

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Carpenter added he was confident the third
round of government aid would be the last required by GMAC, not a
view universally shared by analysts.

Options for ResCap include a sale of the unit,
selling of its bad assets but keeping the unit, or placing the
division into bankruptcy