The closure of a Florida bank whose deposits are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is the 23rd FDIC-insured financial institution failure of 2012. Information on the closed bank follows with links to the FDIC website for more information.
Security Bank, National Association, North Lauderdale, FL, was closed by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
FDIC Failed Bank List (since Oct. 1, 2000).
The closure of five banks—one each in California, Minnesota and South Caroline; and two in Maryland—after hours on Friday April 27, 2012, has raised the total number of failed financial institutions whose deposits are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to 22 for 2012. Below is information on the closed banks with links to the FDIC website for more information:
Bank of the Eastern Shore, Cambridge, MD, was closed by the Maryland Commissioner of Financial Regulation.
HarVest Bank of Maryland, Gaithersburg, MD, was closed by the Maryland Commissioner of Financial Regulation.
Inter Savings Bank, fsb D/B/A Interbank, fsb, Maple Grove, MN, was closed by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
Plantation Federal Bank, Pawleys Island, SC, was closed by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
Palm Desert National Bank, Palm Desert, CA, was closed by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
FDIC Failed Bank List (since Oct. 1, 2000).
The U.S. Federal Reserve has released the statement following the April 2012 meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee. The statement was a little less optimistic about economic growth, but did not suggest that any change in monetary policy is forthcoming. The FOMC members voted 9-1 in support of the statement. Jeffrey M. Lacker, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, voted against the statement, asserting that the federal funds rate should not be kept near zero through 2014.
Here is the full FOMC statement:
Release Date: April 25, 2012
Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in March suggests that the economy has been expanding moderately. Labor market conditions have improved in recent months; the unemployment rate has declined but remains elevated. Household spending and business fixed investment have continued to advance. Despite some signs of improvement, the housing sector remains depressed. Inflation has picked up somewhat, mainly reflecting higher prices of crude oil and gasoline. However, longer-term inflation expectations have remained stable.
Consistent with its statutory mandate, the Committee seeks to foster maximum employment and price stability. The Committee expects economic growth to remain moderate over coming quarters and then to pick up gradually. Consequently, the Committee anticipates that the unemployment rate will decline gradually toward levels that it judges to be consistent with its dual mandate. Strains in global financial markets continue to pose significant downside risks to the economic outlook. The increase in oil and gasoline prices earlier this year is expected to affect inflation only temporarily, and the Committee anticipates that subsequently inflation will run at or below the rate that it judges most consistent with its dual mandate.
To support a stronger economic recovery and to help ensure that inflation, over time, is at the rate most consistent with its dual mandate, the Committee expects to maintain a highly accommodative stance for monetary policy. In particular, the Committee decided today to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent and currently anticipates that economic conditions–including low rates of resource utilization and a subdued outlook for inflation over the medium run–are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate at least through late 2014.
The Committee also decided to continue its program to extend the average maturity of its holdings of securities as announced in September. The Committee is maintaining its existing policies of reinvesting principal payments from its holdings of agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities in agency mortgage-backed securities and of rolling over maturing Treasury securities at auction. The Committee will regularly review the size and composition of its securities holdings and is prepared to adjust those holdings as appropriate to promote a stronger economic recovery in a context of price stability.
Voting for the FOMC monetary policy action were: Ben S. Bernanke, Chairman; William C. Dudley, Vice Chairman; Elizabeth A. Duke; Dennis P. Lockhart; Sandra Pianalto; Sarah Bloom Raskin; Daniel K. Tarullo; John C. Williams; and Janet L. Yellen. Voting against the action was Jeffrey M. Lacker, who does not anticipate that economic conditions are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate through late 2014.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) today announced new resources to support small businesses across the nation. FDIC Director for Depositor and Consumer Protection Mark Pearce and SBA’s Deputy Associate Administrator for Entrepreneurial Development Michael Chodos released Money Smart for Small Business, a training curriculum for new and aspiring business owners. Developed in partnership between both agencies, this curriculum is the latest offering in the FDIC’s 10 year old award-winning Money Smart program.
Money Smart for Small Business provides an introduction to day-to-day business organization and planning and is written for entrepreneurs with limited or no prior formal business training. It offers practical information that can be applied immediately, while also preparing participants for more advanced training. The curriculum is designed to be delivered to new and aspiring business owners by financial institutions, small business development centers (SBDCs), among others.
Director Pearce and SBA Associate Administrator Chodos were joined by Training Alliance partners at the launch of Money Smart for Small Business, hosted by the District of Columbia’s Affinity Lab, a small business incubator.
“We are proud to launch Money Smart for Small Business,”said Acting Chairman Gruenberg. “Since 2001, Money Smart has helped individuals build a secure financial future for themselves. I am very pleased that small businesses, which play a vital role in supporting our national economy, will now have access to this resource. The FDIC looks forward to working with the SBA and the Money Smart Alliance, to promote financial literacy among small business owners.”
“We are excited to join the FDIC in its expansion of the Money Smart curriculum for small business,” said SBA Administrator Karen Mills. “The FDIC is a vital ally in our efforts to help small business owners start, grow and create jobs. Money Smart for Small Business will help to put more information on the business basics of financial management at entrepreneurs’ fingertips and make it easier for them to build their knowledge and skill set.”
Each of the ten instructor-led modules in Money Smart for Small Business provides financial and business management for business owners and includes a scripted instructor guide, participant guide and overhead slides. Organizations that use the curriculum to support small businesses through training, technical assistance or mentoring are invited to join the FDIC and SBA’s Training Alliance. The FDIC will host an online “town hall” for potential Training Alliance partners in the months ahead.
More than ten years after the original release of the award-winning Money Smart adult curriculum, Money Smart for Small Business builds on the proven results in financial management for those who complete the curriculum.
The curriculum is free of charge and available by visiting http://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/moneysmart/index.html.
Lehman was leveraged 44-to-1; that by itself was a major cause of the financial crisis. The fact that no one has been held accountable is astonishing.
The following is a link to video of the “60 Minutes” segment:
http://cnettv.cnet.com/av/video/cbsnews/atlantis2/cbsnews_player_embed.swf
Posted in Banking, Regulatory Reform, Securities
Tagged Banking, Financial Crisis, Lehman Bros.
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Gregg D. Killoren
victoria1014