On Friday, the Minnesota Department of Commerce closed St. Stephen State Bank, headquartered in St. Stephens, Minnesota, and the FDIC was named receiver. As receiver, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with First State Bank of St. Joseph, headquartered in St. Joseph, Minnesota, to assume all of the deposits of St. Stephen State Bank.
Yesterday afternoon, the House Judiciary Committee held Part II of its series of hearings entitled “Too Big to Fail – the Role for Bankruptcy and Antitrust Law in Financial Regulation Reform.” Yesterday’s hearing focused on proposed financia
Yesterday, the California Department of Financial Institutions closed San Joaquin Bank, headquartered in Bakersfield, California, and the FDIC was named as receiver.
Earlier today, First Coweta Bank, headquartered in Newnan, Georgia, was closed by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance, and the FDIC was named as receiver.
On January 6, 2009, Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) re-introduced H.R. 200, “Helping Families Save Their Homes in Bankruptcy Act.” First introduced in the fall of 2007 by Durbin in the Senate and by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) in the House, this bill has been the subject of three hearings, but faces opposition primarily from Republicans and representatives of the mortgage industry.
A recent New York court decision has cleared the way for lenders to seek recovery against non-recourse carve-out, or “bad boy,” guarantors during a pending mortgage foreclosure action if a borrower files for bankruptcy. In so doing, the court answered a question that, surprisingly, was thus far apparently unanswered in a reported decision in New York: whether New York’s “one action rule” under RPAPL § 1301 bars a lender from obtaining a money judgment against a “bad boy” guarantor for the debt if a mortgage borrower files for bankruptcy while a foreclosure action is underway.
On Thursday, Ireland's Finance Minister Brian Lenihan released a "Minister's Statement on Banking" announcing new commitments to troubled Irish banks. The statement began: "It is an urgent and immediate priority to reinforce international market confidence in our ability and commitment to restore our banking system to health and to secure the long-term sustainability of our fiscal position." Toward that end, Mr. Lenihan announced increased commitments to banks and building societies.
On Friday, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, Division of Banking closed Ravenswood Bank, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, and appointed the FDIC as receiver for the bank.
On Friday, the Executive Commission of the Bank of Spain appointed the Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring (FROB) as interim administrator of Roman Catholic Church-controlled savings bank Caja de Ahorros y Monte de Piedad de Córdoba (CajaSur).