The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) is a program of the United States government to purchase toxic assets and equity from financial institutions to strengthen its financial sector that was passed by Congress and signed into law by President George Bush. It was a component of the government's measures in 2009 to address the subprime mortgage crisis. On December 19, 2014, the U.S. Treasury sold its remaining holdings of Ally Financial, essentially ending the program.