Thrift Supervision

WASHINGTON -- Federal regulators proposed yesterday that savings and loan institutions be permitted to convert to state-chartered savings banks.The measure, which has been pushed hard by savings and loan lobbyists, would further blur the lines between different kinds of savings institutions.It was viewed by some experts as another step in an industry consolidation that would inevitably lead to the demise of savings and loan associations.The proposal was made by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Federal banking regulators have charged an executive of Hunt Valley-based Eastern Savings Bank with improperly altering documents for $3.25 million in loans approved by a Pennsylvania financial institution. In documents released Tuesday, the Office of Thrift Supervision accuses Jonathan I. Feldman, Eastern Savings' senior vice president, of receiving financial gain or benefit from "misconduct involving personal dishonesty" and engaging in unsafe or unsound practices. The OTS is seeking to remove Feldman from Eastern Savings and prohibit his involvement with Eastern Savings and other banks.

T. Rowe Price Associates Inc. won approval yesterday to operate a federal savings and loan that will allow it to offer certificates of deposit nationwide.The new T. Rowe Price Savings Bank, based in Baltimore, will not make loans or sell mutual funds, according to the Office of Thrift Supervision, the Treasury Department agency that regulates federal savings and loans."We just want to round out the range of investment services and savings opportunities for individual investors," said Steven E. Norwitz, a spokesman for the Baltimore mutual fund company.

The nation's economy is starting to recover, but many Maryland banks are still feeling the fallout from the mortgage crisis, and analysts predict that more bank failures and mergers are on the horizon. About a dozen of the state's 89 banks remain under federal supervision put in place over the last two years, and many others continue to see their loan defaults rise, according to regulatory filings. Some banks don't have adequate capital, and others could be forced to close. Nationally, the number of bank failures this year is on pace to surpass last year's 140 closures, including several in Maryland.

Baltimore County Savings Bank's parent company said yesterday that it has been taken off federal regulatory supervision of its operations, a major step forward as it works to stabilize its long-term finances after a costly check-kiting scheme. BCSB Bankcorp Inc. said late yesterday that the Office of Thrift Supervision has terminated special oversight that had been in place since December 2005. The federal agency took action after finding flawed internal controls. In particular, it said the bank needed to improve its processes for identifying customers at high risk of unlawful activity.

WASHINGTON -- In an attempt to encourage more lending, the four federal agencies that regulate banks and savings and loans are preparing new rules that would make it cheaper for institutions to make home-construction loans.The Office of Thrift Supervision, which supervises the nation's savings associations, was the first of the four agencies to announce Monday that it would cut in half the amount of money that savings and loans must put aside as a cushion against possible losses from low-risk residential construction loans.

In what company officials termed a defensive move, Legg Mason Inc. has filed an application with a federal regulator to operate a savings and loan.The Baltimore-based brokerage and money management firm XTC filed papers with the Office of Thrift Supervision in Washington to charter Legg Mason Trust Bank FSB.Raymond A. "Chip" Mason, Legg's chairman and chief executive, said the company has no immediate plans to start the savings and loan even if it gets...

Business failures up in Md.Maryland was one of only five states where the number of business failures rose during the first half of the year, said a survey released yesterday, as economic growth in major industries pushed failures down 20 percent nationwide.A total of 36,790 U.S. businesses failed during the period, compared with 45,906 during the first half of 1993, Dun & Bradstreet reported.The only states with a rise in failures were Arkansas, 45 percent; Montana, 30 percent; Oregon, 25 percent; Maryland, 8 percent; and Washington state, 3 percent.

Dutch insurer Aegon NV is exploring a bid to buy the troubled Suburban Federal Savings Bank in Crofton as a way of becoming eligible for money from the federal bank bailout plan. The insurance giant, with North American headquarters in Baltimore, was among four insurance companies that applied Friday to the federal Office of Thrift Supervision to become owners of a savings institution as a way to get funding from the Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program. OTS officials confirmed Aegon's interest in Suburban.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Columbia Savings & Loan, which once boasted of being the best-run U.S. savings and loan, was seized by government regulators Friday, ending a dizzying 18-month collapse of the maverick thrift that ultimately could cost taxpayers more than $1.5 billion.The seizure of the thrift, which collapsed largely because of massive losses on its "junk" bonds, ends another chapter in the spectacular demise of financier Michael Milken's once-powerful junk-bond machine, of which Columbia was a critical component.

Federal regulators seized Bradford Bank of Towson late Friday after the financial institution failed to find a buyer, making it the second bank in Maryland to fall victim to bad loans amid the collapse of the real estate market. M&T Bank, which recently acquired Baltimore's Provident Bank and is one of Maryland's largest lending institutions, will assume all of Bradford's deposits and most of its assets in a purchase agreement with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. That means Bradford's nine branches, mostly in Baltimore County, will reopen today as M&T offices and business will go on as usual.

Dutch insurer Aegon NV is exploring a bid to buy the troubled Suburban Federal Savings Bank in Crofton as a way of becoming eligible for money from the federal bank bailout plan. The insurance giant, with North American headquarters in Baltimore, was among four insurance companies that applied Friday to the federal Office of Thrift Supervision to become owners of a savings institution as a way to get funding from the Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program. OTS officials confirmed Aegon's interest in Suburban.

Baltimore County Savings Bank's parent company said yesterday that it has been taken off federal regulatory supervision of its operations, a major step forward as it works to stabilize its long-term finances after a costly check-kiting scheme. BCSB Bankcorp Inc. said late yesterday that the Office of Thrift Supervision has terminated special oversight that had been in place since December 2005. The federal agency took action after finding flawed internal controls. In particular, it said the bank needed to improve its processes for identifying customers at high risk of unlawful activity.

REMEMBER REDLINING, circa 1970? We may soon see a modern-day version of the old practice when banks drew invisible but detrimental geographical boundaries around poor urban and rural areas and refused to do business with them. Recent moves by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) and other banking regulatory agencies to water down a nearly 30-year-old law designed to ensure that banks provide lending, investment and basic banking services to poor communities are prompting fears of a return to the old days.

WASHINGTON - Senate Banking Committee Chairman Paul S. Sarbanes is asking for federal investigations into the failure of Superior Bank FSB, a suburban Chicago thrift that was half-owned by the multibillionaire Pritzker family. Sarbanes, a Maryland Democrat, requested the probes in letters dated Wednesday to the General Accounting Office, the government's main investigative arm, and the inspectors general of the Treasury Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. He said investigators also should explore "whether and how the regulatory early warning system is working."

T. Rowe Price Associates Inc. won approval yesterday to operate a federal savings and loan that will allow it to offer certificates of deposit nationwide.The new T. Rowe Price Savings Bank, based in Baltimore, will not make loans or sell mutual funds, according to the Office of Thrift Supervision, the Treasury Department agency that regulates federal savings and loans."We just want to round out the range of investment services and savings opportunities for individual investors," said Steven E. Norwitz, a spokesman for the Baltimore mutual fund company.

WASHINGTON - Senate Banking Committee Chairman Paul S. Sarbanes is asking for federal investigations into the failure of Superior Bank FSB, a suburban Chicago thrift that was half-owned by the multibillionaire Pritzker family. Sarbanes, a Maryland Democrat, requested the probes in letters dated Wednesday to the General Accounting Office, the government's main investigative arm, and the inspectors general of the Treasury Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. He said investigators also should explore "whether and how the regulatory early warning system is working."

Top administration officials asked bank and thrift examiners yesterday to extend the benefit of the doubt and use common sense when working with the financial institutions that are essential for fueling an economic recovery.While gently chiding their audience for contributing to the "credit crunch," Treasury Secretary Nicholas F. Brady and others stopped short of placing full blame on the nearly 500 examiners for the tight lending that is said to be contributing to the economy's sputtering.

In what company officials termed a defensive move, Legg Mason Inc. has filed an application with a federal regulator to operate a savings and loan.The Baltimore-based brokerage and money management firm XTC filed papers with the Office of Thrift Supervision in Washington to charter Legg Mason Trust Bank FSB.Raymond A. "Chip" Mason, Legg's chairman and chief executive, said the company has no immediate plans to start the savings and loan even if it gets...

Business failures up in Md.Maryland was one of only five states where the number of business failures rose during the first half of the year, said a survey released yesterday, as economic growth in major industries pushed failures down 20 percent nationwide.A total of 36,790 U.S. businesses failed during the period, compared with 45,906 during the first half of 1993, Dun & Bradstreet reported.The only states with a rise in failures were Arkansas, 45 percent; Montana, 30 percent; Oregon, 25 percent; Maryland, 8 percent; and Washington state, 3 percent.