As it has been doing on a monthly basis during the current banking crisis, the FDIC has once again updated the page on its website describing the failed bank litigation that the agency has initiated. According to the latest update, as of April 12, 2013, the agency has now filed a total of 54
Failed Banks
Under Scrutiny, FDIC Posts (Some) Failed Bank Suit Settlements Online
Possibly as a result of a barrage of recent press criticism for its nonpublic settlements, the FDIC has launched a page on its website to publish details regarding the settlements it has reached in failed bank claims. The page, which can be found here, acknowledges that it is not yet complete. Even in its…
FDIC: Improving Trend Gains Ground, “Problem Institutions” Persist
The improving trend that the banking industry has shown for the last three years accelerated in 2012, according the FDIC’s Quarterly Banking Profile for the final quarter of 2012, which was released on February 26, 2013. Overall, the industry reported 2012 earnings of $141.3 billion, which represents a 19.3 percent improvement over 2011 and the…
FDIC: Failed Bank and Failed Bank Litigation Update
The pace of bank closures has slowed to a trickle. There have only been three bank failures so far in 2013 (including one this past Friday evening, involving the Covenant Bank of Chicago, Illinois). But while bank failures have dwindled, the number of failed bank lawsuit filings has surged. On February 15, 2013, the…
Failed Bank Directors’ and Officers’ Affirmative Defenses Against the FDIC Stricken
In order to try to defend themselves from claims asserted against them by the FDIC as receiver for a failed bank, the failed bank’s directors and officers often raise affirmative defenses, either based on pre-receivership conduct (as for example, in connection with pre-failure examinations) or post-receivership conduct (as for example in connection with the agency’s…
Following Criminal and SEC Actions, Shareholder Files Securities Suit Against Failed Bank Holding Company Directors and Officers
A shareholder of the holding company for a failed Virginia bank, the Bank of the Commonwealth, has filed a securities class action lawsuit in the Eastern District of Virginia against the holding company and certain of the company’s directors and officers. The lawsuit, filed on January 22, 2013, follows after the July 2012 indictment of…
FDIC Files First Failed Bank D&O Lawsuit of 2013
Picking up where it left off at the end of the year, the FDIC has filed its first failed bank D&O lawsuit of 2013. The lawsuit, which the agency filed on January 17, 2013 in the District of New Mexico, names as defendants ten former directors and officers of the failed Charter Bank, New Mexico.
Guest Post How Officers and Directors of Financial Intermediaries Can Avoid Personal Liability in the Post-Dodd-Frank Market
As the current wave of bank failure litigation has unfolded, the directors and officers of banking institutions rightly have become more concerned about the own potential liability exposures and interested in learning more about how they might be able to reduce their risks and exposures. In the following guest post, Joseph T. Lynyak III …
Guest Post: Who’s to Blame for Inadequate Bank D&O Insurance?
One of the most vexing problems that can arise in the D&O claims context is when the amount of insurance available proves to be insufficient to resolve the pending claims. Although this problem can arise in many claims contexts, one particular context in which the problem can arise is in the context of claims by…
Cornerstone: FDIC D&O Lawsuit Filings Increased During Fourth Quarter
The FDIC’s filing of lawsuits against former directors and officers of failed banks increased “markedly” during the fourth quarter of 2012 after a “lull” during the second and third quarters of the year, according to a new study from Cornerstone Research. The study, released December 18, 2012 and entitled “Characteristics of FDIC Lawsuits Against Directors…