Three Bank Failures Bring '10 Total to 25

[OhioChick]

Source: Wall St. Journal

MARCH 5, 2010, 7:43 P.M. ET

Regulators closed three banks in Florida, Maryand and Illinois, bringing the 2010 total of failed banks to 25.

One of them, Waterfield Bank in Germantown, Md., had just one branch but gathered $156.4 million in deposits from customers via the Internet and 38 affinity groups.

The Office of Thrift Supervision closed Waterfield, with $155.6 million in assets, without finding a buyer. Waterfield's operations will be assumed temporarily by a new institution created by the OTS to operate until April 5, so customers can shift their funds to other institutions.

Waterfield's management included two alumni of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Randall and Richard Waterfield, according to the bank's Web site.

The three banks have a total of $903 million in assets and $798.4 million in deposits, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said. Their transfers to new ownership will cost a fund maintained by the FDIC an estimated $208.5 million.

The Florida Office of Financial Regulation closed Boca Raton-based Sun American Bank, the largest of the three banks with $535.7 million in assets, $443.5 million in deposits and 12 branches.



Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704869304575104103017118326.html

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http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/banklist.html

[UpInArms]

1. "Waterfield's management included two alumni of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.,

Randall and Richard Waterfield, according to the bank's Web site"

only found a cached version - http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:GZv41TEDbN4J:www.waterfieldbank.com/+waterfield+bank+germantown&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=opera

and it was rather weird (not just the graphics being gone but the weirdness with the address thing

Bank Information

Germantown Banking Center:
19828 Century Blvd.
Germantown, MD 20874

Banking Hours:
Mon - Thurs 10:00am - 6:00pm
Friday 10:00am - 7:00pm

and the spiel:

Waterfield Bank is a member of the Waterfield family of financial institutions. The Bank is able to offer customers the safety and security often not found with other banks. The company draws upon its rich heritage to provide unmatched service, security and financial products. As a customer of Waterfield Bank, you have a broad array of products and services to meet your financial needs. Plus, you have the continued confidence of knowing your money is safe, backed by nearly a century of banking experience and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

but why the California contact address?

Waterfield Bank | 18881 Von Karman | Suite 1700 | Irvine, CA 92612
[phone]

Copyright © 2010 Waterfield Bank. Users of this site agree to the terms of the Waterfield Terms and Conditions.

[UpInArms]

3. found this while digging around:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4183/is_20100218/ai_n50227241/

<snip>

On Feb. 3, the Office of Thrift Supervision gave the bank two weeks to merge or sell after it determined that Waterfield could not come up with a good plan to recapitalize. OTS was delayed in posting the order to its Web site after the area's massive snow storms kept regulators out of work for a week.

The two-week deadline could mean time is up for the bank, which has a single branch in Germantown.

<snip>

Waterfield Bank started out as American Partners Bank in 2000, as an institution created to work with the insurance industry. It merged with Federal City Bancorp Inc. in 2005 and began serving the general population.

In 2008, the bank was acquired by California-based Affinity Financial, which is part of The Waterfield Group. An Indiana branch acts as the Waterfield Bank's headquarters and holds most of its deposits.

...more...

(edited for stupid fingers)

[Po_d Mainiac]

2. Up to 4

and just a mere $415million hit on the FDIC.

A bargain weekend, or just waiting for closing time on the left coast?

[saigon68]

4. Criminal Money Changers

err err---- Launderers

[Supersedeas]

5. where was the oversight when it was need most -- we know we know, it was too much regulation