OneWest buys First Federal as 7 US banks fail

Reuters ^ | Dec. 18, 2009 | Gina Keating

[La Enchiladita]

**** Bank failures now total 140 in 2009 ****

LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK, Dec 18 (Reuters) - OneWest Bank, formerly failed mortgage lender IndyMac, bought the assets of First Federal Bank after it was closed by U.S. regulators, in a deal that may bolster the case for private investment in banks.

California's First Federal was one of seven U.S. lenders closed on Friday by regulators, bringing the total number of U.S. bank failures this year to 140.

The 39 branches of First Federal -- formerly controlled by FirstFed Financial (FFED.PK) -- reopen on Saturday as OneWest Bank FSB.

In addition to assuming $4.5 billion in total deposits, OneWest, of Pasadena, Calif., agreed to buy essentially all of First Federal's assets of $6.1 billion, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said.

The deal is OneWest's first since it was formed to take over IndyMac's assets earlier this year by a group of private equity and hedge fund investors, including funds run by billionaire investors J.C. Flowers, John Paulson and George Soros.

[La Enchiladita]

See any familiar names in the article....???

[La Enchiladita]

George Soros owns my bank now.
Isn’t that %&@#*!!!???

[La Enchiladita]

Other banks closed on Friday include: Imperial Capital Bank of La Jolla, California, with assets of $4 billion; Peoples First Community Bank of Panama City, Florida with assets of $1.8 billion; New South Federal Savings Bank of Irondale, Alabama with assets of $1.5 billion; Independent Bankers' Bank of Springfield, Illinois, with assets of $585.5 million; RockBridge Commercial Bank of Atlanta with assets of $294 million; and Citizens State Bank in New Baltimore, Mich., with assets of $168.6 million.

[CaliforniaCon]

Re: “George Soros owns my bank now.
Isn’t that %&@#*!!!???”

**************
You’re in L.A., right??

Try some other banks — Luther Burbank bank is pretty solid, as is City National Bank, Union Bank and then of course U.S. Bank (took over Downey Savings) and Wells Fargo — even Chase.

I used Excel in Beverly Hills for awhile but they are now in dire straits so I pulled the funds.

It’s hard to find decent banks these days and you have to keep on top of the bank watchdogs like Bankrate.com and others because ratings can change quickly.

[SoCalPol]

It is surprising some of the smaller backs lastd as long as they did with larger ones tanking or merging.
Net result of Boma and his lets make a crisis.

[La Enchiladita]

I almost went over to Wells Fargo last year, but customer service is non-existent. I stayed with First Fed for longevity; whoda thunk they would blink first, lol?

Thanks for the tips and the watchdog reminder. I’ll be looking at City National and Union Bank.

[La Enchiladita]

I wonder what they will re-name the 3rd world country that the U.S.A. will become.

[SunkenCiv]

Don’t worry, once he runs out of stuff to steal, he’ll move on.

[La Enchiladita]

he’ll move on.

As in moveon.org....?

*cheesy grin*

[La Enchiladita]

Oh P.S., you would think BH would be a good place for a bank, but that place is all Iranian now!!

[BunnySlippers]

Sheesh! I now have CDs at overlapping banks! I am losing count!

[SoCalPol]

Am sure Soros will have a hand in the naming rights.
It is really getting ugly.

[WVNan]

Thank you. My bank is still “sound” four stars.

[SE Mom]

Geeeesh...he’s everywhere, isn’t he? Get out asap!

I use a small, local bank that is in very good shape and never took a dime of tarp money.

[rsobin]

“I use a small, local bank that is in very good shape and never took a dime of tarp money.”
I doubt that there are any banks that after the books are balanced out end up in the black. Your bank like all has suffered from serious write downs through little or no fault of its own.

[taildragger]

We need a list on non-TARP banks.

Not advice, but Credit Unions were not under the CRDA rules and Bawaney Fwank.

Also USAA if your a Military Vet, they just relaxed rules to bring older vets that didn't sign up with them to come into the fold. They are definitely TARP-free... Go to their site and see what they are advertising for 30 yr fixed, holy smokes...

[Irisshlass]

This is the biggest bank heist in history.

[taildragger]

Here is a copy paste of Non-Tarp banks,

from a website from: http://thepoliticaloctagon.com/?p=2675

A big hat-tip to BailoutSleuth for compiling this list.

Banks declining TARP allotments, with amount authorized:

Access National Corp. (Reston, Va.) — $16 million

American River Bancshares (Sacramento, Calif.) — $6 million

Ameriana Bancorp (New Castle, Ind.) — $9.8 million

Arrow Financial Corp. (Glens Falls, N.Y.) — $20 million

Astoria Financial Corp (New York) — $375 million

Bank of the James Financial Group, Inc. (Lynchburg, Va.) — $7.71 million

Beacon Federal Bancorp (East Syracuse, N.Y.) — Undisclosed

Beverly National Corp. (Beverly, Mass.) — $10.6 million

Bridge Bancorp (Bridgehampton, N.Y.) — $15 million

California United Bank (Encino, Calif.) — $8.3 million

Cardinal Financial Corp. (Tysons Corner, Va.) — $41.2 million

Chemical Financial Corp. (Midland Mich.) — $84 million

CNB Financial Corp. (Clearfield, Pa.) — $21.4 million

Community Bank of Wichita (Wichita, Kan.) — $1 million

Community Trust Bancorp Inc. (Pikeville, Ky.) — $68 million

Connecticut River Community Bank (Wethersfield, Conn.) — $3.9 million

Dime Community Bancshares Inc. (Brooklyn, N.Y.) — $77 million

Eagle Financial Services Inc. (Berryville, Va.) — $10 million

Enterprise Bancorp. Inc. (Lowell, Massachusetts) — $28.5 million

First Capital Inc. (Corydon, Ind.) — Not disclosed

Frederick County Bancorp Inc. (Frederick, Md.) — $7.02 million

German American Bancorp (Jasper, Ind.) — $25 million

Glacier Bancorp Inc. (Kalispell, Mont.) — Not disclosed

High Point Bank Corp. (High Point, N.C.) — Not disclosed

Kansas State Bank (Manhattan, Kan.) — Not disclosed

Johnson Financial Group (Racine, Wis.) — $100 million

Landmark Bancorp Inc. (Manhattan, Kan.) — $12 million

Legacy Bancorp (Pittsfield, Mass.) — $20 million

Liberty Bancorp Inc. (Liberty, Mo.) — $8.5 million

LSB Financial Corp. (Lafayette, Ind.) — $8.6 million

Mechanics Bank (Richmond, Calif.) — $60 million

Merchants Banschares Inc. (South Burlington, Vt.) — Not disclosed

MidCarolina Financial Corp. (Burlington, N.C.) — Not disclosed

NBT Bancorp Inc. (Norwich, N.Y.) — Not disclosed

New York Community Bancorp Inc. (Westbury, N.Y.) — $596 million

Northeast Indiana Bancorp. (Huntington, Ind.) –$5.5 million

Oak Financial Corp. (Byron Center, Mich.) — $20 million

OptimumBank Holdings (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) — $4.6 million

Pacific Continental Corp. (Eugene, Ore.) — $30 million

Provident New York Bancorp. (Montebello, N.Y.) — Not disclosed

Riverside Bank (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) — $3 million

Skagit State Bancorp Inc. (Burlington, Wash.) — $12 million

Smithtown Bancorp Inc. (Smithtown, N.Y.) — $37.8 million

Solera National Bancorp Inc. (Lakewood, Colo.) — Not disclosed

Southcoast Financial Corp. (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) — Not disclosed

Sussex Bancorp (Essex, N.J.) — $9.99 million

S.Y. Bancorp Inc. (Louisville, Ky.) — $43 million

Teche Holding Co. (Franklin, La.) — Not disclosed

TF Financial Corp. (Newtown, Pa.) — $12.6 million

United Bancshares Inc. (Washington DC and Charleston, W.Va.) — $197.3 million

If your bank does not appear here, do not assume they are TARP thieves, call your local bank and ask them if they are taxpayer, government owned. If they are not, patronize them. Bail on the rest.

via: BailOutSleuth. H/T: Andrew Roth

[Palladin]

Ugh!

I wonder why God allows evil men like george Soros to live so long?

[La Enchiladita]

Good for you, SE Mom, on your local bank.

Also, see what taildragger found!! Thank you, TD!!

Good summary: “If your bank does not appear here, do not assume they are TARP thieves, call your local bank and ask them if they are taxpayer, government owned. If they are not, patronize them. Bail on the rest.

“