90 Year Old First Banking Center, Burlington, WI, Closed By Regulators

November 19, 2010 – First Banking Center, Burlington, Wisconsin, was closed today by the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions, which appointed the FDIC as receiver.  To protect depositors, the FDIC sold First Banking to First Michigan Bank, Troy, Michigan, which will assume all deposits and purchase all assets of failed First Banking. First Banking Center […]

FDIC Sells Failed Allegiance Bank of North America To Bank With Outstanding TARP Loan

Allegiance Bank of North America, Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, was closed today by the Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Banking, which appointed the FDIC as receiver.  The FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with VIST Bank, Wyomissing, PA, to assume all deposits and purchase all assets of failed Allegiance. Allegiance was a state-chartered […]

Gulf State Community Bank, Carrabelle, Florida, Fails Under Mountain Of Bad Loans

Gulf State Community Bank, Carrabelle, Florida was closed today by the Florida Office of Financial Regulation, and the FDIC was named as receiver.  Gulf State had been operating under an FDIC consent order issued November 20, 2009 which required the bank, among other things, to increase capital to adequate levels.  Unable to comply with the […]

Fed Puts Bank Dividend Payments On Hold Until Capital Adequacy Tested

November 17, 2010 – As anticipated, the Federal Reserve Board issued guidelines to the nation’s largest bank holding companies (BHCs) for evaluating plans to pay stock dividends or repurchase common stock.  The Fed stated that the guidelines are a conservative approach to “ensure that the BHCs hold adequate capital to maintain ready access to funding, […]

Tougher Standards By Banks For Mortgage Approval Requires Credit Education

November 18, 2010 – Several years ago, the mortgage underwriting standards of banks were so liberal that nearly anyone could get an approval, regardless of income levels or credit scores.  The subsequent real estate crash and huge number of mortgage defaults since those easy lending days has resulted in much tougher underwriting standards. Many borrowers […]

Is Quantitative Easing A Bank Bailout? – What You Don’t Know Will Hurt You

QE (quantitative easing) has arrived and will ultimately impact the financial well being of all Americans. Is it possible that something so profoundly disrupting to the financial world would go unnoticed by mainstream America?  Is John Q Public indifferent or oblivious to the Fed implementing a reckless monetary policy previously reserved for banana republics? In […]

Warren Buffett Bullish On Wells Fargo – Stock Price Unchanged For 10 Years

If you want to invest in bank stocks, legendary Warren Buffett says buy Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo, the fourth largest bank holding company in the United States with $1.22 trillion dollars in assets emerged from the financial crisis in far better shape than many of its large competitors.  The management team at Wells avoided high […]

One West Bank Seeks Growth With Citibank Loan Purchase

One West Bank, newly chartered in early 2009, is the banking industry’s biggest success story. At a time when many banks are failing or struggling with nonperforming loans and slow growth, One West has earned almost $2 billion in profits for its founders by acquiring three failed banks, including giant IndyMac Bank  which failed in […]

Three Banking Failures In Georgia and Arizona Push Year’s Total To 146

November 12, 2010 – The number of banking failures in 2010 has climbed past last year’s total of 140, which was the most since 1992. Three additional banking failures this week brings the year’s total to 146 as regulators closed banks in Georgia and Arizona. With over 10% of all FDIC insured institutions on the […]

Copper Star Bank, Scottsdale, AZ, Closed By Regulators

November 12, 2010 – Copper Star Bank, Scottsdale, Arizona, was closed today by the Superintendent of the Arizona Department of Financial Institutions, which appointed the FDIC as receiver. The FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Stearn Bank, N.A., St. Cloud, Minnesota, to assume all deposits and purchase all of the failed bank’s […]