Banking Failures – 81 And Counting 2009 has now seen a total of 56 more failed banks than occurred for all of 2008.  The latest banking closures by the FDIC bring total banking failures for 2009 to 81.  The latest four failed banks on August 21, 2009 had total assets of $13.9 billion and total losses to the FDIC Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) are estimated at $3.26 billion. The [...]

Lending Losses Doom Guaranty Financial Although not formally announced by the banking regulators, it looks virtually certain that Guaranty Financial will be closed on Friday.   Numerous reports indicate that Guaranty Financial will be taken over by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA of Spain in an FDIC assisted transaction.  As was the case with the closing last week of Colonial [...]

What Are The Regulators Waiting For? Recent events at Colonial BancGroup Inc present a picture of a bank beyond any hope of financial recovery. Colonial has been under FDIC and Alabama Banking Department oversight since June when it was obvious that Colonial could not survive without additional capital.  A possible merger or sale has been explored by Colonial without success. Colonial [...]

FDIC Should Close Guaranty Financial But Will It? There were numerous news reports today that Guaranty Financial (GFG) will be the next large bank to collapse into the arms of the FDIC.   Guaranty Financial’s management has admitted that they have run out of options and cannot comply with an April cease and desist order from the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) to raise [...]