bank failure

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Troubled Securities Threaten to Drown Banks

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...

Southern Lender Becomes Year's Biggest Bank Failure

(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 ...

Its Economy in Ruins, Iceland Votes to Join the EU

(Newser) - Iceland held fast to its independence as it rocketed to become one of the world's richest nations. But after a spectacular bust that decimated its currency and felled its government, the island nation has voted to join the EU. The accession plans are a victory for the country's new PM,...

Feds Seize Florida Bank in $4.9B Bust

BankUnited sold off to private equity consortium

(Newser) - Florida's BankUnited went bust yesterday as the FDIC seized the critically undercapitalized bank and sold it off to a private-equity team including Blackstone, reports the Wall Street Journal. BankUnited's troubles stemmed from overeager moves in the housing market. It specialized in loans for foreigners wanting to buy Florida property. After...

Time to Stress Out About Stress Tests
 Time to Stress Out 
 About Stress Tests 
OPINION
May 8, 2009 7:22 AM CDT

Time to Stress Out About Stress Tests

Washington is leading us to a second crisis: Krugman

(Newser) - Sure, yesterday's release of the stress tests' results felt pretty anti-climatic. But while bankers might be reassured, Americans have no reason to be, writes Paul Krugman. For the New York Times columnist, the less-than-rigorous stress tests are part and parcel of an Obama administration strategy to "muddle through the...

Stress Tests Expected to Show Confidence in Banks

Administration ready to say bailout worked

(Newser) - The top US banks may not be as deep in the mud as analysts fear, government "stress tests" out Thursday are expected to show. Officials seem ready to argue that the nation's financial system is recovering and won't require more bailout funds from Congress. "None of these banks...

Biggest US 'Bankers' Bank' Fails

(Newser) - The FDIC has shut down a Georgia-based bank that was the largest in the country to accept deposits exclusively from other banks, the Wall Street Journal reports. Some argued that Silverton Bank—known as the Bankers' Bank until last year—was “too big to fail.” The FDIC has...

Fed Describes 'Stress Tests'
 Fed Describes 'Stress Tests' 
Apr 24, 2009 4:06 PM CDT

Fed Describes 'Stress Tests'

(Newser) - At the behest of the Federal Reserve, the 19 biggest US banks are projecting their losses on 12 categories of financial product such as loans and mortgage securities, the New York Times reports. The Fed, which asked the institutions to project a hypothetical scenario of a “stressed economic environment,...

Banks Fall; Dow Slides 122
 Banks Fall; Dow Slides 122 
MARKETS
Mar 20, 2009 3:20 PM CDT

Banks Fall; Dow Slides 122

But indices lock in first two-week winning streak in nearly a year

(Newser) - Stocks fell today but managed to lock in the first two consecutive weeks of gains since May 2008, the Wall Street Journal reports. Comments from FDIC chair Sheila Bair that she expects bank failures to drain her agency sank financials, with the broader market following suit. The Dow dropped 122....

Bankers Blamed for Mess Get Rich Cleaning It Up

(Newser) - The irony is, well, rich. Former executives of Countrywide Financial—the bank whose risky loans to homeowners have become synonymous with the subprime mess—are now making a mint helping the government fix things, the New York Times reports. A dozen former Countrywide executives, including President Stanford L. Kurland, have...

Banks That Fail 'Stress Test' Have 6 Months to Fix

(Newser) - The federal government has begun its so-called "stress tests" of the nation's big banks, reports the Los Angeles Times. The tests will run through April, and the banks will have to prove they can withstand a worsening economy—even if unemployment rises above 10% and home prices decline 22%....

Dodd Backs Nationalizing Banks; White House Doesn't

Banking chair weighs short-term moves

(Newser) - Chris Dodd says the US may have to nationalize the most troubled banks for “a short time” to save the financial system, Bloomberg reports. The chairman of the Senate Banking Committee joined Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan in calling for serious consideration of nationalizing flailing institutions such as Bank...

Nationalize Some Banks: Greenspan
Nationalize Some Banks:
Greenspan
Feb 18, 2009 8:06 AM CST

Nationalize Some Banks: Greenspan

Ex-Fed head abandons free-market purism, wants temporary move

(Newser) - Alan Greenspan, once famed for his light touch, now says the US may have to temporarily nationalize some banks. The former Fed chairman said in an interview with the Financial Times that some institutions need government ownership to restore liquidity and help shore up the larger financial system. "In...

Iceland to Appoint First Openly Gay Woman as PM

Ex-flight attendant to lead until May elections

(Newser) - Iceland is set to appoint the world's first openly gay woman as prime minister: a former flight attendant who rose through the political ranks to become a cabinet minister. Johanna Sigurdardottir, the 66-year-old social affairs minister, is the pick of the Social Democratic Alliance Party to lead an interim government....

Wreck of IndyMac Sold for $13.9B
Wreck of IndyMac Sold
for $13.9B
Jan 3, 2009 8:41 AM CST

Wreck of IndyMac Sold for $13.9B

Soros, Dell among the players in FDIC's damaged-goods sale

(Newser) - A team of high-profile investors has bought the remains of failed bank IndyMac from the FDIC for $13.9 billion, the Wall Street Journal reports. The investors, including George Soros and computer tycoon Michael Dell, have agreed to share the losses from IndyMac's portfolio of troubled mortgages in a deal...

Sloppy Lehman Bankruptcy Killed Billions in Value

Speedy process leaves creditors hanging

(Newser) - Had Lehman Brothers been more careful in its bankruptcy filing, it could have held on to as much as $75 billion that was destroyed in the process, the firm’s head restructuring agents say. A better-planned filing would have allowed the sale of some assets outside of court proceedings and...

How Iceland Went From Codfish to Meltdown
How Iceland Went From Codfish to Meltdown
ANALYSIS
Dec 27, 2008 11:18 AM CST

How Iceland Went From Codfish to Meltdown

Country built a huge financial bubble based on a vulnerable currency

(Newser) - How did a chilly nation of cod fishermen play a key role in the world's crumbling financial markets? Seeking to avoid the boom-and-bust of fish catch, Iceland started by privatizing banks in the mid-1990s. It built a colossal banking system on a puny currency and attracted international deposits with high...

Feds OK Massive $20B Citigroup Bailout

Taxpayers will also back $300 billion in shaky debt

(Newser) - The US will bail out Citigroup with $20 billion in fresh capital and a guarantee to mop up $306 billion in toxic assets, the Wall Street Journal reports. The deal, announced late last night, marks a turning point in the financial crisis: In addition to injecting nearly $300 billion into...

We Should Offer Banks a Choice on Exec Pay
We Should Offer Banks a Choice on Exec Pay
Analysis
Nov 4, 2008 10:33 AM CST

We Should Offer Banks a Choice on Exec Pay

Either let US set limits, or make firms set aside cash: economist

(Newser) - Regardless of who wins today’s election, one issue from this campaign will continue to burn hot with investors, Andrew Ross Sorkin writes in the New York Times. Both candidates have blamed executive pay for the financial collapse, as execs are rewarded for risk-taking while rarely penalized for failure. But...

'Circle of Pain' Snags Emerging Markets, Too
'Circle of Pain' Snags Emerging Markets, Too
OPINION
Oct 27, 2008 12:41 PM CDT

'Circle of Pain' Snags Emerging Markets, Too

Krugman: Russia et al. not immune after all to crisis' vicious cycle

(Newser) - Only a few weeks ago, it seemed the main fronts of the financial crisis were the Western banking system and mortgage market. But now the crisis has spread to emerging markets like Russia and Brazil. As Paul Krugman writes in the New York Times, the mantra of “decoupling”—...

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