grantcart

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Sat Aug-16-08 01:12 AM
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Wall Street Journal breaks ice on Andrew McCain's Silver State Bank board resignation

Three weeks after the event and after an almost daily watch at DU the first report on the story was published today in the MSM by the Wall Street Journal. There are still questions about the delay of the Q2 report that was held until after the resignation in an obvious attempt to lessen possible public connection between the disastorous performance of the board and McCain's tenure as a director. In the 100+ days that McCain was on the board the shareholders lost $ 100+ million in shareholder value. The WSJ reports that depositors are withdrawing at a rate of $ 4 million a day which would indicate that those withdrawals may be reaching the $ 100 million mark.

Not only was the Q2 report delayed but after it was issued a revision had to be issued showing that the losses were still underreported and the total operational loss was $ 73.2 million. When this was reported on Friday the share price for SSB tumbled losing another 25% of its value on Friday. The price was $ 8.66 on April 1st when Andre McCain joined the board. The total loss to shareholders now exceeds $ 120 million. The total capitalization of the shares of the bank has now fallen to $ 9.38 million.

http://finance.google.com/finance?chdnp=1&chdd=1&chds=1&chdv=1&chvs=maximized&chdeh=0&chdet=1217120283937&chddm=1173&q=NASDAQ:SSBX&

Wall Street Journal

McCain's Son Sat on Troubled Bank's Board

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121876461747243159.html?mod=googlenews_wsji

Sen. John McCain's son served until last month on the board audit committee of a Nevada bank that is struggling to survive amid mounting losses and regulatory scrutiny.

Andrew K. McCain, 46, was on the board of Silver State Bancorp for five months before he resigned on July 25 for unspecified "personal reasons," according to a news release issued by the bank at the time.

Andy McCain was on the board of Silver State Bancorp for just five months before he resigned on July 25 for 'personal reasons.'
A week after Mr. McCain's departure, the Henderson, Nev., company reported a loss of $62.7 million in the second quarter and said its capital -- the bank's cushion to absorb losses -- had eroded significantly. At the same time, Silver State announced the resignations of its chief executive and chairman.

On Thursday, the bank said in a securities filing that it actually lost $73.2 million in the second quarter. Silver State also said in the filing that its worsening financial condition means there is "uncertainty about the company's ability to continue as a going concern."

There is no evidence that the younger Mr. McCain committed any wrongdoing, or that Sen. McCain, the Republican presidential candidate from Arizona, had any knowledge or involvement in the bank's woes, which partly stemmed from troubled construction and land-development loans.

But with banks across the country struggling amid the credit crunch and the economic slowdown, the Republican presidential candidate's family ties could emerge as an issue on the campaign trail. The younger Mr. McCain's associates had urged him to step down from the board of Silver State, saying it could become a liability in his father's White House bid, according to a person in the local banking industry familiar with the matter.

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Mr. McCain and Sen. McCain's campaign both declined to comment.

Silver State's three-person audit committee was responsible for monitoring the company's overall financial condition and the preparation of its quarterly financial statements.

In recent weeks, federal and state regulators have intensified their scrutiny of the bank's books, according to people familiar with the bank. The bank's customers have been pulling deposits at a rate of about $4 million per day, one person said. A Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. spokesman declined to comment.