Saturday, August 02, 2008

Another failed bank taken over on Friday.

This list of failed banks maintained by the FDIC will keep you up on the latest bank failures. Expect it to grow in the next months.

Today's failed bank is First Priority Bank, Bradenton, FL.

Here, from Herald Tribune, is a brief explanation for the failure:
First Priority is the eighth U.S. bank to fail this year in the aftermath of the mortgage crisis, and the first Florida bank failure since March 2004. Andrew Gray, spokesman for the FDIC, said the bank had "significant loan losses" in the Florida commercial real estate market that eroded its capital.
And if you are curious why banks seem to all fail on Friday, the Herald Tribune also explains that. The exact date the failure is announced is chosen by the FDIC.
Announcements of bank failures tend to be made after the close of business on a Friday, so the banks can reopen under new ownership the following Monday morning.
First Priority appears to be another casualty from the collapse of the Housing Bubble combined with the banker's poor underwriting procedures as they worked to make every possible loan, sell it to investors and collect the commissions. Banker's bubble mentality, in other words.

The next time someone tells you that professional investors and bankers are so experienced and smart that they don't need regulation, just laugh at them.


Addendum 11:09 am CDT
This from the Friday Financial Times (Free registration required):
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation revealed on Friday that it had issued warnings to four small US banks that lacked sufficient reserves to cover potential loan losses.

The cease-and-desist orders issued in June said the four banks needed to raise more capital, expand their loss allowances and better oversee and diversify their loan portfolios. A fifth bank was cited for violating consumer protection laws. [Snip]

The banks receiving cease-and-desist orders in June were MetroPacific Bank in Irvine, California; Bank Haven in Haven, Kansas; Clarkston State Bank in Clarkston, Michigan; and Hastings State Bank in Hastings, Nebraska. [Snip]

The fifth bank – Columbus Bank and Trust in Columbus, Georgia – received a cease-and-desist order because its credit card program violated consumer protection laws.
No telling how many more there are. It's interesting that the FDIC has publicized and named these banks. Isn't that kind of publicity supposed to be likely to cause runs on the named banks?

No comments: