This.
Right.
Here.
Fox News: FDIC Criticizes Massachusetts Bank
Here's the gist: A community bank in Massachusetts which has managed to have precisely ZERO bad loans on its books was sternly, uh, wrist-slapped by the FDIC recently.
[Strict attention to credit quality] has allowed East Bridgewater Savings Bank to stand out among a flurry a failing banks, with no delinquent loans or foreclosures on its books, the Journal reported. East Bridgewater Savings didn’t even need to set aside in money in 2008 for anticipated loan losses.
But rather than reward [bank CEO] Petrucelli's tactics, the FDIC recently criticized his bank for not lending enough, slapping it with a "needs to improve" rating under the Community Reinvestment Act, the Journal reported.
But rather than reward [bank CEO] Petrucelli's tactics, the FDIC recently criticized his bank for not lending enough, slapping it with a "needs to improve" rating under the Community Reinvestment Act, the Journal reported.
This is a joke, right?
The problem, according to FDIC data, was that from late 2003 through mid-2008, East Bridgewater Savings made an average of 28 cents in loans for every dollar in deposit — a sharp contrast to the 90 percent average loan-to-deposit ratio among similar banks, the paper reported.
"There are no apparent financial or legal impediments that would limit the bank’s ability to help meet the credit needs of its assessment area," the FDIC wrote in the CRA evaluation.
The agency also faulted the bank, which does not have a Web site, for not promoting its loan products enough, the Journal reported.
"There are no apparent financial or legal impediments that would limit the bank’s ability to help meet the credit needs of its assessment area," the FDIC wrote in the CRA evaluation.
The agency also faulted the bank, which does not have a Web site, for not promoting its loan products enough, the Journal reported.
You mean to tell me this bank was actually working to make sure its loans were going to be paid back?
Astounding.
In a world where a bank "meeting its community's credit needs" is FDIC jargon for "flushing depositor funds down a black hole," you just gotta wonder when it was that our society became so out-of-its-mind in love with (and dependent on!) ever-increasing debt levels.
I mean, with such diligent loan underwriting, East Bridgewater Savings will never get its hands on any of the Bailout Billionz the feds are shovelling out the door to the banks that were, uh, "doing it right."
I'll say it again: We're in trouble, kids. The problems are systemic.
Labels: Banking
