Banks Amass $211 Trillion In Derivatives, JP Morgan Loses $2 Billion And Volcher Rule Debates Continue

The goal of the Volcker Rule, which became law under the Dodd-Frank Act was to restrict speculative trading activity in risky derivatives by the Too Big To Fail Banks.  The ban on proprietary bank trading was proposed by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker who believed that one of the primary causes of the 2008 […]

Dallas Fed Says “Too Big To Fail Banks” Should Be Broken Up – Future “Severe Crises” Possible

The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas joined the growing chorus of critics who maintain that the Dodd-Frank Act will not prevent future taxpayer funded bank bailouts.  The Dallas Fed said taxpayers are still at risk for the cost of large banks failures and that any future bailouts should result in severe consequences for both bank […]

Palm Desert National Bank, California, Closed By Regulators

Palm Desert National Bank, Palm Desert, California, was closed today by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.  The FDIC, appointed as receiver, sold the failed bank to Pacific Premier Bank, Costa Mesa, CA., which will assume all deposits of Palm Desert National. Established in 1981, Palm Desert was a relatively small bank with […]

Inter Savings Bank of Minnesota (D/B/A Interbank) Closed By Regulators

Inter Savings Bank, Maple Grove, Minnesota, was closed today by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency which appointed the FDIC as receiver.   The FDIC sold the failed bank to Great Southern Bank, Reeds Spring, Missouri, which will assume all deposits of failed Inter Savings Bank. Inter Savings Bank, (fsb D/B/A Interbank) which had […]

HarVest Bank of Maryland Collapses – Sold To Sonabank of Virginia

The State of Maryland, which has not had a banking failure since November 2010, saw two banks collapse today as regulators closed the HarVest Bank of Maryland and the Bank of the Eastern Shore.  Since the start of the banking crisis in 2008, Maryland has had a total of only 8 banking failures compared to […]

FDIC Issues 72 Enforcement Actions In March To Problem Banks

The FDIC announced in a press release today that a total of 72 enforcement actions were taken against banks and individuals for March 2012.  During the previous month, the FDIC had issued a total of 53 enforcement actions. Included in the FDIC enforcement actions were 18 civil money penalties, 1 prompt corrective action notice, 13 […]

Bank of America Executives Win, Shareholders Lose – It’s Not Supposed To Work This Way

Most shareholders understand that an investment in a public company entails risk – that’s what capitalism is all about.  Well managed companies with great products generally wind up enriching shareholders over time and no one begrudges the fact that executives of a successful enterprise are well paid. What a lot of shareholders don’t understand, however, […]

Big Bank CEOs Take Home Massive Paychecks As Savers and Shareholders Get Crushed

Right or wrong, most consumers have an overwhelmingly negative opinion about big banks.   According to a survey by Research and Markets, 86% of social media comments about U.S. and European banks are negative. The negative perception of big banks by the public has become so pervasive that most bank executives probably just ignore it at […]

Global Commerce Bank, Doraville, GA, Becomes Third Georgia Banking Failure of 2012

Georgia was the epicenter of banking failures last year and the trend seems to be continuing in 2012 as regulators close another failed Georgia bank.  During 2011 Georgia had 23 bank failures, accounting for 25% of all 92 bank failures that occurred last year.  Of the 12 failed banks this year, three have been in […]

Bank Of America, Hated By Many, Could Make Some People Rich In 2012

During 2011, some of the smartest investment pros in the world bet heavily on Bank of America and lost big as the stock price collapsed. Concerns over the looming collapse of the European banking system sent U.S bank stocks into a tailspin as panicked investors sold.  From a price of $15 in January 2011 the […]