Free Republic

BOTTOM LINE: SVB invested too much of its capital in U.S. government-backed bonds and then became a victim of the government’s irresponsible policies. Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the 16th-largest bank in the U.S., collapsed last Friday, becoming the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history after the downfall of Washington Mutual in 2008. Unlike Washington Mutual, SVB’s failure is not due to reckless lending but has much to do with our government’s monetary and fiscal policies. Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, SVB was once the largest bank in Silicon Valley. Its geographical location meant that most customers were tech startup entrepreneurs...

Over the past few years, British businesses operating in America have learned the hard way exactly how brutal the US can be when things go wrong. British banks have had to pay billions of dollars in fines to settle investigations by US regulators, ranging from allegations that Barclays rigged LIBOR to claims that Standard Chartered breached US sanctions against Iran. … The US Department of Justice has hardly given JP Morgan an easy ride of late. Last week, America’s biggest bank was fined $5.1 billion, most of which related to wrongdoing at Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual, companies JP Morgan...

"Not even the guys at Washington Mutual know about this." Yet somehow CNBC found out. This video is a gem because it's probably the only existing report in mainstream press with any questions about the seizure of Washington Mutual. Once the FDIC formally announced the seizure the propaganda machine was turned on and the only thing that was repeated over and over was that JP Morgan had saved the day and that it was simply "Business as usual". The bank was likely seized on a Thursday to keep them from transferring 16+ billion dollars from WaMu fsb, a subsidiary which...

SEATTLE, WA (September 24, 2008) – Washington Mutual, Inc. (NYSE:WM), one of the nation’s leading banks for consumers and small businesses, has once again been recognized as a top employer by Hispanic Business magazine and the Human Rights Campaign. Hispanic Business magazine recently ranked WaMu sixth in its annual Diversity Elite list, which names the top 60 companies for Hispanics. The company was honored specifically for its efforts to recruit Hispanic employees, reach out to Hispanic consumers and support Hispanic communities and organizations. The Human Rights Campaign, the largest national gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) civil rights organization, also...

Washington Mutual bank explores takeover possibilities: report Thu Sep 25, 10:00 AM ET The troubled US bank Washington Mutual has approached certain private equity firms as possible candidates to take it over, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. The private investment groups approached include Carlyle Group and Blackstone Group, which may team up with Texas billionaire Gerald Ford, the daily said, citing sources familiar with the matter. Questions have arisen over Washington Mutual's future since last week's dramatic collapse of investment giant Lehman Brothers and the government rescue of insurance group AIG.

Washington Mutual CEO Kerry Killinger stood before a Wall Street investors' conference last September and declared that his company — the company he had led since 1990 and built into the nation's sixth-largest bank and one of its biggest home lenders — not only would survive the collapse of the mortgage bubble but would prosper. Despite what Killinger called "a near-perfect storm" in the U.S. housing market, he said, "We have appropriate capital and sources of liquidity (i.e., cash) to weather the storm." Killinger declared that WaMu would add billions in new mortgages to its books, in a bid to...

In July 2007, Vijay and Supriti Soni of Corona del Mar paid $440,000 for a home at 2129 W. Civic Center Drive in Santa Ana. Five weeks later, they resold the house to Javier Hernandez – the family gardener and handyman – for $660,000. That's a 50 percent gain in 38 days – at a time when real estate prices in Santa Ana were plunging. But the lender that financed both mortgages – Washington Mutual Bank – took a bath. In March of this year Hernandez's loan went into default and in July the bank foreclosed. On the trustee's deed,...

Washington Mutual’s (WM) new chief, Alan Fishman, could be looking at the briefest executive tenure in recent memory. The American Banker reported Friday that the struggling Seattle-based thrift is in “advanced discussions” to sell itself to JPMorgan Chase (JPM). The publication, citing sources, said the talks “are ongoing at the highest levels of both companies.” WaMu didn’t comment.

WaMu shares were down over 25% in midday trading. Lehman Brothers analysts in a note Monday said WaMu could be forced to substantially boost its reserves to cover an estimated $28 billion of losses on the balance sheet, with $21 billion coming from mortgages.

Washington Mutual Inc, the largest U.S. savings and loan, on Tuesday said it will receive a $7 billion capital injection from private equity firm TPG Inc and other investors. The company also said it expects to report a first-quarter loss of $1.1 billion, or $1.40 per share. It expects to set aside $3.5 billion in the quarter for loan losses and said net charge-offs, or loans it doesn't expect to be paid back, will total $1.4 billion. Separately, the company said it will reduce its quarterly dividend to 1 cent per share from 15 cents per share, saving $490 million...

Soledad Aviles dreamed for years of owning a home, with a plot of land where he could grow corn and chiles as he did in his native Mexico. So he felt blessed last year when he learned he could buy a three-bedroom, single-story stucco house on West La Verne Avenue in Santa Ana. Referred to a local loan broker by a trusted friend, he borrowed the entire purchase price of $615,000 from Washington Mutual at a high interest rate typical of sub-prime loans. The monthly payment, as he says he understood it, would be $3,600 -- steep for a glass...

(subtitle-Major credit card associations and financial institutions are saying little ) MARCH 09, 2006 (COMPUTERWORLD) - The continued refusal by major credit card associations and financial institutions to identify the source of a data compromise that has resulted in a wave of debit card fraud worldwide is fueling concerns about the scope of the problem. It is also shining a spotlight on what may be growing attempts by criminal gangs to try to compromise PIN-based card transactions, which have until now been considered extremely secure, analysts said. The immediate furor was ignited earlier this week by Citibank, which acknowledged that...

Interesting web site showing PDFs that Washington Mutual prints for illegal aliens looking to do things like open bank accounts. They only require Matricula Consular IDs. Sigh...

The average North Carolina resident probably assumes that local, state and federal governments are better coordinated to fight terrorism today than they were before the Sept. 11 attacks four years ago. But the case of Gilberto Cruz Hernandez -- illegal Mexican immigrant accused in a series of rapes -- suggests otherwise. On his third try at illegal immigration, the 24-year-old Hernandez hit the jackpot in the Piedmont Triad, settling with unnerving ease into the mundane fabric of everyday life. He landed a job at a Greensboro printing company and earned $44,000 a year. Last year, the same federal government that...