Tag Archives: FDIC

The Federal Reserve said Monday that it may delay rules under Dodd-Frank related to stress tests for big banks until next year. According to a release, the change would hold off on implementation until September 2013, giving some elbow room to banks, state member banks, and savings and loans institutions with anywhere between $10 billion and $50 billion in total assets. The move follows a December 2011 rulemaking proposal to green-light rules and procedures for stress tests under Dodd-Frank.

The FDIC launched a suit against 12 banks Friday regarding misrepresentations of residential mortgage-backed securities sold to now-defunct, Alabama-based Colonial Bank. Among those accused are some of the nation├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós largest banks, including JPMorgan Chase, Citi, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo. The 12 banks sold more than $3.88 million in securities to colonial bank, and the FDIC alleges the banks misrepresented several aspects of the loans making up the securities in the lead-up to the financial crisis.

State regulators shuttered a bank in Georgia this weekend, raising the bar to 39 for bank failures nationally this year. Jasper-based Jasper Banking Company fell dark with about $216.7 million in total assets and $213.1 million in total deposits. Stearns Bank National Association swooped in to sign a purchase-and-assumption agreement with the FDIC, as well as a loss-share transaction on $106 million of the assets. The acquirer assumed essentially all of the assets and deposits, along with three branches, which reopened under new management on Saturday.

Five banks failed Friday, requiring an estimated total of $150 million from the FDIC. Banks failed in Illinois, Kansas, Georgia, and Florida with the greatest expense stemming from a single bank in Illinois. The FDIC estimates the failure of Second Federal Savings and Loan Association of Chicago will lead to a total cost of $76.9 million. Hinsdale Bank & Trust Company, based in Hinsdale, Illinois, has assumed all the deposits of Second Federal Savings and Loan Association of Chicago as well as $14.2 million in assets, mostly cash.

A Georgia bank closed Friday, with state authorities appointing the FDIC as receiver. The banker, accused of embezzling millions from the shuttered institution, remains missing after a two-week absence. Montgomery Bank & Trust, located in Alley, Georgia, closed its doors Friday, reopening as part of Ameris Bank. Ameris entered a purchase agreement with the FDIC to assume all of Montgomery Bank├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós deposits and about $12.4 million of its assets ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô mainly cash and cash equivalents, according to the FDIC.

Three bank failures took place Friday, raising the national tally this year to 31 as fewer community banks fall under, compared with recent years. State regulators shuttered Palakta, Florida-based Putnam State Bank, Marietta, Georgia-based Security Exchange Bank, and Lynchburg, Tennessee-based The Farmers Bank of Lynchburg. The cost to the FDIC: $100 million. With the bank failure tally at 31 this year, the numbers mark a gradual decline in the rate of closure for community banks compared with every year since the financial crisis.

Four banks were shut down Friday bringing the tally of fallen banks so far this year to 28. The banks were located in Illinois, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and South Carolina. The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation closed Shabbona, Illinois-based Farmers and Traders State Bank. The failed bank held $43.1 million in assets and $42.3 million in deposits as of the end of the first quarter of the year. First State Bank, based in Mendota, Illinois, entered a purchase and assumption agreement with the FDIC.

The Dodd-Frank Act fell under scrutiny at a hearing of the Senate Banking Committee Wednesday, with lawmakers from the right charging that the reform law will impose arbitrary rules that limit consumer choice and prevent an economic recovery. Much of the light fell on interagency efforts to finalize the controversial Volcker Rule, a rulemaking requirement under Dodd-Frank that bans short-term proprietary trading by systemically important financial institutions like Chase. Witnesses included Consumer Financial Protection Bureau chief Richard Cordray.

The Systemic Risk Council, a volunteer group led by former FDIC chair Sheila Bair, will meet in June to monitor and encourage regulatory reform of U.S. capital markets focused on systemic risk. The council, formed by CFA Institute and The Pew Charitable Trusts, is an assembly of experts in investments, capital markets, and securities regulation.

The number of financial institutions at risk of failure dropped for the fourth consecutive quarter, falling from 813 to 772. The FDIC reported Thursday that the decline signals the smallest number of problem banks since yearend 2009, with total assets waning from $319 billion to $292 billion. The much-weakened Deposit Insurance Fund saw its first-quarter net worth rise to $15.3 billion, up from $11.8 billion over the fourth quarter last year. Insured deposits grew by an estimated 0.7 percent over the first quarter.