Our beat here at The D&O Diary is basically restricted the world of directors’ and officers’ liability. So, regrettably, we don’t often have the occasion to write about college football. But a story making the rounds on the Internet manages to connect Colonial Bank (the third largest bank to fail during the current bank failure
FDIC: Banks Improve, “Problem Institutions” Continue to Increase
While the condition of commercial banks continues to improve overall, the number of "problems institutions" also continues to grow, in both absolute and percentage terms, according to the FDIC’s latest report on the banking industry. The FDIC’s Quarterly Banking Profile, dated November 23, 2010 and reporting figures through September 30, 2010, showed that the
Failed Bank-Related Activity Looming and Other Web Notes
The lead article in the November 17, 2010 Wall Street Journal reported that the FDIC is conducting 50 criminal investigations of directors, officers and employees of failed banks. Given that (as of November 19, 2010) 314 banks have failed since January 1, 2008, this report suggests that the FDIC is investigating possible criminal charges in
FDIC Sues Failed Bank’s Former Directors and Officers
If the lawsuit filed on Monday is any indication, the long-anticipated FDIC litigation against failed banks may have arrived. On November 1, 2010, the FDIC filed a lawsuit in the Northern District of Illinois against eleven former directors and officers of Heritage Community Bank, a lending institution in Glenwood, Illinois that failed in February 2009
Commercial Banks: Closures, Lawsuits Continue to Mount
As has now become a familiar routine, this past Friday night the FDIC took control of several more commercial banks. The seven additional banks seized on Friday bring the year to date total number of failed banks to 139, and the total since January 1, 2008 to 304. At the same time, lawsuits involving
FDIC Lawsuits: Coming Soon to Failed Banks Near You?
The FDIC has authorized more than 50 lawsuits against former directors and officers of failed banks, according to an October 8, 2010 Bloomberg article. But merely because the lawsuits have been authorized does not necessarily mean we will see 50 lawsuits, as it appears that the FDIC approval was calculated in part to encourage
Is the FDIC Staking Out Its Territory or Extending Its Borders?
With one lone exception, the FDIC has not yet itself pursued litigation against the directors and officers of a failed financial institution. However, the FDIC has already made it clear that it intends to assert its rights under FIRREA as the receiver of failed banks to take control of shareholders’ derivative lawsuits.
More
Pressure for Action Against Corporate Officials
News reports about the September 22, 2010 Senate Banking Committee hearing regarding the SEC have focused on the provocative statements by SEC Inspector General H. David Katz. Among other things, Katz suggested that a Texas-based SEC official quashed the investigation of allegations regarding Stanford Financial Group, allowing the Stanford-related Ponzi scheme to continue. Katz also
Failed Financial Institution D&O Lawsuit – But It’s A Credit Union, Not a Bank
Many observers have been waiting to see whether and to what extent the FDIC will pursue claims against former directors and officers of banks that have failed during the current bank failure wave. So far, the FDIC has filed just a single suit, against former officers of a subsidiary of IndyMac.
However, on
FDIC: Banks Looking Up, But Number of Problem Banks Still Increasing
According to the FDIC’s Second Quarter 2010 Quarterly Banking Profile, which the agency released on August 31, 2010, aggregate indicators of banking institutions’ financial health are improving, but at the same time the number of "problem institutions" also continues to increase. The FDIC’s August 31, 2010 press release about the Quarterly Banking Profile can