1. Do your best; work as hard as you can.

2. Fighting with the regulators is, at best, useless and, at worst, damaging to the institution. If the bank is going to fail, don’t blame the regulators.

3. Search hard for solutions. Short of buying out the bad loans with personal funds, be as aggressive as reasonably practicable. Prove to the regulators you know what is at stake: the insured deposits.

4. Cooperate with the bidders in any assisted transaction.

There are a number of ways directors and officers can get ready personally for potential FDIC litigation.

1. Take steps to understand the bank’s D&O insurance policies before the bank is closed. Determine whether policy coverage is offset by the fees for defense of claims. If so, understand the FDIC wants recovery, not protracted litigation.

When the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency placed the $1.9 billion asset-sized ANB Financial, National Association in receivership with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) on May 9, 2008, it was one of the largest bank insolvencies in recent years. In a matter of days, plaintiffs’ attorneys were actively seeking future clients. Attorneys ran newspaper advertisements soliciting former employees, depositors and shareholders of the failed Bentonville, Arkansas bank and its holding company.