On Friday, the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance closed  Appalachian Community Bank, headquartered in Ellijay, Georgia, and the FDIC was named receiver.

On Friday, the Nevada Department of Business and Industry, Financial Institutions Division closed Carson River Community Bank, headquartered in Carson City, Nevada, and the FDIC was named receiver.

On Friday, the Missouri Division of Finance closed Bank of Leeton, headquartered in Leeton, Missouri, and the FDIC was named receiver.

Today, the Florida Office of Financial Regulation closed Commerce Bank of Southwest Florida, headquartered in Fort Meyers, Florida, and the FDIC was appointed as receiver. As receiver, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Central Bank, headquartered in Stillwater, Minnesota, to assume all of the deposits of Commerce Bank of Southwest Florida.

Today, the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law held a hearing to discuss the role of bankruptcy and antitrust law in financial regulatory reform, particularly with respect to institutions that may be regarded as “too big to fail,” as highlighted during the financial crisis.

Testifying before the Subcommittee were the following witnesses:

Panel I

In the past two days, AIG has announced the sale of its Hong Kong Financial branch and the sale of additional energy and infrastructure investment assets.

As the federal government and private markets make progress to quell economic recession and stimulate the engines of financial growth, recent headlines from the commercial real estate industry have focused on certain developments, such as the proposed changes in rating agency methodologies and the repeated false starts with the government’s TALF and PPIP programs.

On Wednesday, Ford Motor Co.

Over the past two weeks, the federal government has relied on nearly every legal authority available to address the unfolding crisis in financial institutions with large mortgage-related holdings — direct and indirect financial assistance, government takeovers and even a decision to let the bankruptcy process run its course have all come into play. Today, several new actions have been announced, together with proposals that would require Congressional action.

Bankruptcy Judge Christopher S. Sontchi recently ruled in the Energy Future Holdings case¹ that the debtor will not be required to pay the $431 million “make whole” demanded by bondholders upon the debtor’s early payment of the bonds.²