These Days, Local Banks Look Good

Financial advisers ponder meaning of 'competence'

(NEWSER) - The first sign of Arthur Packel's Alzheimer's was the call from the homeowner's association asking for unpaid fees. As his mind began its long slide, it turns out, the first thing he did was simply stop paying bills. When his wife tried to pick up the slack, she found much of their money gone. And despite a forensic accountant's efforts, “It just disappeared,” Renee Packel tells the New York Times . More»

Figures spark renewed fears that feds are at a loss

(NEWSER) - The US bank lending rate has fallen its fastest in history, sparking renewed fears that the government hasn't done enough to prop up the economy and that America's troubles are far from over. Lending has plummeted $100 billion just since January, which amounts to a 16% annualized drop. Some $740 billion of bank credit has evaporated since the credit crisis began, a record drop of 10%, reports the Telegraph . More»

Tapped-out deposit insurance fund mulls reverse bailout

(NEWSER) - After a year of government bailing out the banks, now the banks may bail out the government. Regulators are considering a plan for the FDIC, which protects bank depositors, to borrow billions from healthy banks, enabling the fund to refresh its accounts after a wave of bank failures. Banks and their lobbyists are strongly in favor; writes the New York Times. They'd rather loan the cash than get tapped for up to $10 billion in special assessments. More»

Feds set to seize Texas' Guaranty

(NEWSER) - Bad loans have been killing off banks at the fastest rate in 17 years—but now, securities purchased from other banks are a mounting threat, the Wall Street Journal reports. Thousands of banks nabbed securities dependent on mortgages and the financial industry. “Under most scenarios, they were good and prudent investments—as long as we didn't have a housing or banking crisis,” says one banking insider. More»

(NEWSER) - Alabama's Colonial Bank has collapsed in the sixth-biggest bank failure in American history, the Wall Street Journal reports. The lender, which had assets of $25 billion and 346 branches in five southern states, was an aggressive mortgage lender in overheated markets like Florida, and its failure will cost the FDIC $2.2 billion. Colonial's branches, deposits and remaining assets have been sold to Rival BB&T, and customers have been told to expect business as usual. More»