There are some banks that have re-paid TARP, and many more that still can't.

And then there's PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (PNC)

Unlike some of its competitors, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and U.S. Bancorp (USB), the Pittsburgh-based regional bank has chosen not to re-pay the U.S. Treasury's investment in the firm, even though it could likely do so immediately.

Many banking firms large and small, including Bank of America Corp. (BAC), Citigroup Inc. (C) and Regions Financial Corp. (RF), face little choice but to keep the government as an investor for some time to come. Beset by heavy losses from troubled loans and falling real estate prices, they have fuzzy timetables at best for paying back taxpayers.

But the case of PNC is quite a different matter.

In May, an analyst asked James Rohr, PNC's chairman and CEO, about the firm's plans for paying back $7.6 billion in preferred shares the government purchased from PNC last year through the Treasury's Troubled Assets Relief Program.

"We see significant advantages in redeeming TARP" sooner rather than later, he said at a conference, and could do so "as soon as possible."

"But," he said, "we're going to do it in a shareholder-friendly manner."

PNC declined to comment further for this story.

Shares in PNC on Friday were down 1.5% to $39.59 in composite trading. They are down 19% year to date.

Rohr's posture suggests PNC's shareholders are unlikely to face the heavy dilution that other bank investors have faced recently. Many firms re-paying TARP have raised the necessary cash in part by issuing new shares, which dilutes current investors.

Rohr said PNC, by contrast, intends to re-pay Uncle Sam by setting aside future profits, rather than minting new shares.

Rohr's patience also signals a willingness to restrict the compensation of PNC's managers according to government stipulations -- a luxury PNC can afford more easily than its larger counterparts.

Under TARP, large Wall Street firms like JPMorgan, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS) have been shackled by the government's restrictions on executive compensation, which came attached to the TARP investments.

These firms have large trading and investment banking operations, and managers in both businesses expect hefty performance-based bonuses when they drive earnings for their employers. Wall Street firms have worried aloud that the best bankers and traders will simply move firms to get out of government restrictions on pay.

"It's very different if you have a bunch of managers that are about to jump ship," says Anton Schutz, manager of the Burnham Financial Services Fund. "If you run an investment bank, that's where you really run into compensation issues."

Rohr said he's not motivated to pay back TARP fast just to escape pay restrictions.

"The idea of penalizing the shareholder to get out of executive compensation rules alone, I think, is a mistake," he said at the conference in May.

There are some advantages for PNC in keeping its TARP funds around for awhile.

For starters, the funds are relatively cheap, costing PNC annual interest of 5%.

But the firm also purchased National City Corp. last year after the Cleveland-based rival started teetering from losses on subprime loans. Although most analysts think PNC will eventually turn hefty profits from the deal, a further downturn could force PNC to dip into its capital reserves to support old Nat City loans.

What's more, the firm holds far more construction and industrial loans than some consumer-focused competitors. Those loans have been slower to show losses than mortgages and credit cards, and could yet hammer PNC and other regional firms.

"I think it's perfectly understandable," says Jim Sinegal, an analyst at Morningstar Inc. (MORN), "that they'd like to keep the (TARP) capital around for awhile."

-By Marshall Eckblad, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2156; marshall.eckblad@dowjones.com