Free Republic

After the last major financial crisis, when scores of banks failed or took government bailouts while sporting seemingly pristine balance sheets, America’s accounting rule makers got working on a new system for reporting credit losses that was supposed to make lenders recognize them more quickly. That new set of rules has been in place for a little over four years. Investors could be forgiven for wondering if it is working any better than the former one. The old system was called the incurred-loss model. To book a loss, a lender had to conclude it was “probable” that one had already...

New York/London CNN — Another US regional lender caught up in the worst banking crisis since 2008 is looking for help. PacWest Bank (PACW), based in California, confirmed Thursday that it is exploring “all strategic options” after its share price was cut in half in after-hours trading following a Bloomberg report that it was considering a sale. “Exploring strategic options” is Wall Street lingo for “please help.” The last bank to announce it was exploring strategic options was First Republic Bank (FRC). That regional bank failed Monday, and JPMorgan purchased most of its assets. “In accordance with normal practices the...

Fresh off a new injection of $45 billion to ramp up its enforcement efforts, the IRS is calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to allow its agents to secretly obtain financial records, without ever notifying the account holders. Although the case, which will be argued in March, centers around an arcane statutory dispute, it will have massive implications for the Fourth Amendment rights of taxpayers nationwide. Now a broad coalition from all across the political spectrum, including the ACLU, the Cato Institute, the Center for Taxpayer Rights, the Institute for Justice, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is urging the...

Chris Martenson is a world-renowned expert on identifying dangerous, yet hidden, exponential growth patterns in global economies, energy demand, and food consumption... And he is predicting a 60% stock market collapse will strike in the next three months. Martenson’s opinion isn’t to be taken lightly, as his research is highly regarded by the United Nations, UK Parliament, and Fortune 500 companies. His shocking forecast is based on a new alarming pattern he’s identified — he’s calling it “a dreaded triple top” (pictured below).

Last Monday's change of plans by the Bridgeport, Conn., bank-holding company underscores a problem with the growing pile of terminally ill U.S. banks being wrestled with by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Some are in such bad shape that potential buyers won't touch them at any price, even if the government agrees to eat losses on the failed bank's bad loans. In addition to their depleted capital, many seized banks operate in areas with sluggish growth prospects, are puny and are loaded with expensive deposits gathered through brokers that are likely to leave when the acquiring bank reins in interest...

WASHINGTON, Dec 12 (Reuters) - A small bank in Georgia and another in Texas became the 24th and 25th banks to fail this year, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said on Friday. Haven Trust Bank of Duluth, Georgia, had total assets of $572 million and total deposits of $515 million as of Dec. 8, the FDIC said. BB&T Corp (BBT.N) agreed to acquire all of Haven's deposits. Haven's four branches will reopen on Monday as branches of BB&T, the FDIC said. The failure is expected to cost the bank regulator's deposit insurance fund about $200 million. The FDIC's fund has...