The U.S. Treasury today approved requests from American Express and nine other banks to repay $68 billion in bailout funds

. In anticipation of the approval to repay $3.39 billion, Amex last month raised $3 billion in "long-term funding through issuance of unsecured debt" not backed by government guarantees and this month "raised $500 million in equity capital" in a common stock offering. Others granted approval included Northern Trust Corp., which announced plans to pay back $1.58 billion after it was criticized by Congress for sponsorship of a Professional Golfers' Association event, and Morgan Stanley.