June 25, 2010 – Peninsula Bank, Englewood, Florida was closed today by the Florida Division of Financial Institutions, which appointed the FDIC as receiver. Florida now leads the nation with 14 banking failures. Illinois is a close second with 12 banking failures and Georgia has a total of 9. Peninsula Bank was acquired by Premier […]
Government’s Effort To Stop Soaring Mortgage Defaults A Failure
June 24, 2010 By 1 Comment
Mortgage Delinquencies and Foreclosures Continue To Soar The record high rate of mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures remains the banking industry’s biggest obstacle towards financial recovery. The horrific statistics for the first quarter on mortgage defaults provides little reason to believe that the housing crisis will end anytime soon. The delinquency rate for all mortgages on […]
Record High Delinquency Rates On Commercial Loans Stress Banks
June 24, 2010 By 1 Comment
June 24, 2010 – Commercial and multifamily delinquencies continued to increase in the first quarter of 2010 according to a report by the Mortgage Bankers Association. According to Jamie Woodwell, MBA’s Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Research, “Weakness in the economy has continued to weigh on commercial properties, which in turn weighs on the […]
Fannie Mae Seeks To Limit Mortgage Losses On “Strategic Defaults”
June 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment
June 23, 2010 – Borrowers who chose to default on mortgages that they are capable of paying will be facing a long wait before they are able to own a home again under new Fannie Mae guidelines. The new rules come at a time when considerable attention is being focused on “strategic defaults” in which […]
Banks Win, Savers Lose As Fed Keeps Rates At “Exceptionally Low Levels”
June 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment
June 23, 2010 – As expected, the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged at the end of a two day policy meeting. Citing financial turmoil in Europe and restrained economic growth at home, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted to maintain the Fed funds rate near zero. The Fed funds rate has now been […]
FDIC Extends Guarantee On Transaction Account Balances
June 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment
June 22, 2010 – The FDIC Board of Directors extended the Transaction Account Guarantee (TAG) program six months beyond its original expiration to December 31, 2010. In addition, the Board approved for an additional extension, if deemed necessary, to December 31, 2011. The TAG program was initiated in October 2008 as part of the Temporary […]
FDIC Deposit Insurance Fund To Remain Underfunded Until 2017
June 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The FDIC estimated today that the FDIC Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF), which protects depositors in the case of banking failures, will not return to the statutory minimum level required until the first quarter of 2017. The largest number of banking failures in twenty years has depleted the DIF, even after the FDIC collected $46 billion […]
FDIC Chairman’s Explanation For Housing Bubble And Bust Leaves Big Question Unanswered
June 21, 2010 By 1 Comment
Housing Bubble and Crash Explained – The Common Sense Explanation Thousands of articles have been written explaining how the bubble in housing developed and why it subsequently came crashing down, causing the collapse of some of the biggest financial institutions in the United States. Perhaps most of us are simply worn down or confused by […]
Banking Regulators Say Banks Encouraged “Imprudent Risks” With Flawed Pay Incentives
June 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Regulators Tell Bankers That Pay Should Be “Risk Adjusted” June 21, 2010 – The nation’s top banking regulators today moved to curb flawed incentive compensation plans that encouraged banking employees to take imprudent risks. Citing pay practices that contributed to the recent financial crisis, regulators issued financial institutions final guidance to ensure that incentive compensation […]
Nevada Security Bank Closed By Regulators
June 18, 2010 By 4 Comments
June 18, 2010 – Nevada saw its third banking failure of 2010 with the closing of Nevada Security Bank, Reno, Nevada. Failed Nevada Security was acquired by Umpqua Bank of Roseburg, Oregon, in a purchase and assumption transaction with the FDIC. Since the FDIC was able to find a buyer for Nevada Security Bank, all […]