Earlier today, we noted that banks were lobbying to be able to use government financing to buy their own troubled assets. Well, FDIC head Sheila Bair wasted no time in rejecting the idea. From Bloomberg:

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair said banks involved in the U.S. Public-Private Investment Program won’t be permitted to buy their own impaired assets as a way to cleanse their balance sheets.

“There should be no confusion: Banks will not be able to bid on their own assets,” Bair said today at a Washington news briefing to discuss first-quarter U.S. bank earnings. There is “no structure” for such purchases, she said.