Other banks may be in a hurry to return government TARP funds, but SunTrust Banks Inc. (STI) and PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (PNC) say they aren't certain the time is right to repay.

SunTrust Chief Executive James M. Wells III told analysts Thursday that while the bank would like to repay the government as soon as is practical, that requires regulatory approval, which isn't certain given "that approval will likely be dependent upon a view that the recession is easing."

PNC wants to wait until Federal bank regulators complete their financial stress test on the bank before deciding on TARP repayment; results are scheduled for release Friday.

"I think in this environment, we have to be careful. It's always good to have more capital than less during an economic crisis," PNC Chief Executive James E. Rohr told analysts Thursday.

Several banks in recent weeks have expressed interest in repaying the government aid, including Morgan Stanley (MS), Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM). Goldman raised $5 billion in a follow-on offering last week intended to finance part of its TARP loan repayment.

Earlier this week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner indicated that the health of individual banks won't be the only measure used to decide whether firms will be allowed to repay their Troubled Asset Relief Program funds. He said regulators also have to consider the overall health of the financial system and the flow of credit in determining repayment.

--By Lynn Cowan, Dow Jones Newswires; 301-270-0323; lynn.cowan@dowjones.com