Monthly Archives: November 2010

Reward offered in Wisconsin bank robbery

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Another very brazen bank crime… this just came in from the Wisconsin Bankers Association:

The Wisconsin Bankers Association, Bank Mutual and the FBI are offering a joint reward of up to $15,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for the bank robbery of the Bank Mutual office located at 8400 W. Forest Home Ave., Greenfield, Wis.

The Greenfield Police Department received a report of a bank robbery shortly after 7:45 a.m., Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2010. Police say the robber displayed a dark-colored handgun, locked two tellers into the vault and left with an undisclosed amount of cash. The robber is described as a black male, 5’6″ to 5’9″, wearing a black leather jacket, black pants, black shoes, and a black head covering similar to a “do-rag.” Police are also looking for a possible late-1990s-2002 black Chevrolet Camaro which was parked nearby on the South 84th Street on-ramp.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Greenfield Police Department at 414/761-5301 or the FBI at 414/276-4684.

“This reward is offered to provide another tool for law enforcement. Bank robbers are dangerous individuals who put the public and bank employees at risk,” explained WBA President/CEO Kurt R. Bauer.

The WBA has had a robbery reward program since the 1930s; at one point even donating “tommy guns” to local law enforcement to combat bank robberies. The Robbery Reward Fund provides rewards through law enforcement to individuals who identify anyone wanted in connection with a bank robbery or other crime committed at a bank location, including automated teller machine (ATM) sites if that information leads to the arrest and conviction of the individuals responsible for the robbery.

It is a federal crime to rob a federally insured depository institution and that 90 percent of all bank robbers are caught

Regional earnings picture remains steady

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With the FDIC reporting third quarter call report data, we can rank the banks by asset size for each individual state. If you have a subscription to NorthWestern Financial Review magazine, you can check out the banks in your state by visiting the premium section on our home page.

In the 14 states that we track, only Colorado had a major change in its list of 10 largest banks. First National Bank, Fort Collins, Colo., which was the state’s sixth-largest bank at the end of the second quarter with $1.8 billion in assets, doesn’t appear on the third quarter list because the charter was folded into the First National Bank of Omaha, which remains Nebraska’s largest bank.

The earnings picture did not change much from second quarter to third quarter, at least among the largest 25 banks in each of the states. There was improvement in Colorado and Missouri. Through the third quarter, seven of Colorado’s 10 largest banks were losing money, compared to eight banks through the second quarter; nine of the largest 25 banks were losing money by end of third quarter, compared to 10 banks losing money by end of second quarter. In Missouri, two of the largest 10 banks reported losses through the third quarter, compared to three banks reporting losses through the second quarter; four of the largest 25 banks reported losses through three quarters, compared to six banks reporting losses through two quarters.

Nebraska reports the strongest earnings picture in the region. At the end of the third quarter, as well as the second quarter, no banks among the state’s largest 25 reported losses. Other strong states are South Dakota, where no banks in the top 25 reported losses as of third quarter (only one in the largest 25 reported a loss through two quarters), and North Dakota, where only one bank among the largest 25 reported a loss through the third quarter, the same as through the second quarter.

Reward upped on bank robbers

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You might remember me writing about a robbery at a U.S. Bank office not far from my house. Click here to see my post of Sept. 24.

Since then, there was another robbery at a different U.S. Bank office, probably conducted by the same robbers. This one, which took place Nov. 5, was even more bold, as the robbers basically kidnapped a bank employee from her home and drove her to the bank where they forced her to let them in the vault.

This story appeared in my neighborhood newspaper, announcing that U.S. Bank is now offering up to $100,000 for information leading to the arrest of these brazen bank robbers.

National earnings picture improves

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In another sign that the worst of the banking crisis may be behind us, the number of banks in the Upper Midwest reporting quarterly losses declined for the third quarter. The FDIC reported yesterday that the industry earned $14.5 billion for the quarter, which was considerably better than third quarter 2009.

In the 14 Upper Midwest states covered by NorthWestern Financial Review, there are 3,232 banks. 510 of those banks reported losses in the third quarter — that’s 15.7 percent. That is an improvement over second quarter when 16.9 percent of the banks reported losses, but it is still a bit worse than first quarter when 14.6 percent of the banks reported losses.

The number of banks that lost money in the third quarter compared to the number that lost money in the second quarter dropped by 5 in Colorado, by 7 in Illinois, by 3 in Indiana, by 6 in Iowa, by 14 in Kansas, by 6 in Michigan, by 7 in Minnesota and Nebraska, and by 4 in South Dakota. There was no change in Missouri, and North Dakota; the number of banks losing money increased in Wyoming, Wisconsin and Montana.

ABA names Keating for next CEO

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Following up on my post of this morning, here is the announcement that came moments ago from the ABA:

             “On behalf of the ABA board of directors, I am pleased to announce that former Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating has been named to be the next president and CEO of the Association.  He will join ABA on December 1 and assume his new role on January 1, upon the retirement of current president and CEO Ed Yingling.

            “Frank was the unanimous choice of the search committee.  He brings to this position tremendous energy, a strong history of involvement in financial issues, the respect of policymakers on both sides of the aisle and extensive management experience, including eight years as CEO of the American Council of Life Insurers.

            “He is well known in Washington and around the country and is highly regarded for his public service in senior positions in the Justice Department, Treasury and HUD, in addition to his eight years as governor of Oklahoma.

            “Frank comes from a family of bankers and served on the board of a savings bank.  His experience as assistant secretary of the Treasury and general counsel and acting deputy secretary of HUD will be helpful as Congress considers reform of GSEs and housing finance.  He also brings to ABA strong management skills honed as governor and in his leadership of a large and complex trade association.

            “Coming out of the financial crisis, we are entering a period of great change for our industry.  We wanted a strong, proven leader and consensus builder who will listen to the concerns of bankers and be a dynamic champion for our industry during this critical time.  That is what we have in Frank Keating.”

Lobbying has become so much more complicated

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Ed Yingling, president and CEO of the American Bankers Association, retires next month after 25 years at ABA. He has been the association’s leaders since 2005. I had a chance to visit with Mr. Yingling by telephone recently. He is known as one of the most effective lobbyists on Capitol Hill. I asked him how lobbying has changed in the last two decades.

“It has changed dramatically, in that it used to be a much smaller and simpler world. Now there are so many players,” he said. “It is much more difficult to get things done because there are too many cooks and a lot of second guessing. It used to be a much simpler world. If you had something that made sense and you talked to the right half-dozen people, you could usually get it done. Now you have to talk to dozens of people, and by the time you get it all wrapped up, the first person you talked to has gone off the reservation, and you have to start over.

“The media scrutiny, the cynicism of the media, about what lobbyists do, has made it more difficult, and that has been compounded over the last couple of years by the misleading rhetoric about banks,” he added. “I think that is one of the saddest things, to see the misleading rhetoric that has come forward about banks during this crisis.”

Look for more from my interview with Ed Yingling in the December 15 edition of NorthWestern Financial Review magazine.

Bank in the region closed

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State regulators closed the First Banking Center of Burlington, Wis., on Friday. Burlington is located in the south-east corner of the state, not far from Lake Geneva. The bank was the 16th-largest in the state. NorthWestern Financial Review reported in its Nov. 1 edition that the bank had equity capital of 1.70 percent on June 30. That made it the least-capitalized bank in the state.

First Michigan Bank of Troy, Mich., paid a premium of 0.50 percent to purchase the bank’s deposits and nearly all of its assets. The bank got a loss-share agreement from the FDIC on $515.6 million of the assets. For more details, read the FDIC press releases here.

It was only the second bank in Wisconsin to fail this year. The other was the Maritime Savings Bank of Wes Allis, which was closed on Sept. 17. Its mid-year call report showed equity capital of 2.69 percent. Nearly all the banks in Wisconsin are very well capitalized. As of June 30, there were two banks with equity capital ratios in the 4-percent range, none with a ratio in the 3-percent range and one with ratio in the 2-percent range.

Former ICBA leader from N.D. set to retire

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Best wishes to Terry Jorde, who is retiring as president and CEO of CountryBank USA in Cando, N.D. Her retirement becomes effective on Monday. This article appears in the local newspaper.

Jorde has been on the cover of NorthWestern Financial Review at least three times. I remember when we featured her on the cover of our June 1991 edition. She was preparing to become president of the Independent Community Banks of North Dakota. Only 33 at the time, she had been named president of her bank a year earlier. At that time, the bank was called Towner County State Bank. By that point, she had already been active in ICBND for six years.

ICBND threw a big Las Vegas party in Jorde’s honor in 2006 when she became chairman of the Independent Community Bankers of America. She was the third North Dakotan to become ICBA chairman. It was a memorable convention. Ben Bernanke had been made chairman of the Federal Reserve only a month earlier and he gave one of his first public speeches at the convention, which was conducted at the Wynn Resort.

The timing of Jorde’s leadership at both groups was transitional. North Dakota’s interstate banking law became effective July 1, 1991, just before Jorde became ICBND president. Opposition to interstate banking had been a major legislative priority for the association for years up to that point. At the ICBA meeting, 2006 was probably the last year before the financial crisis and subsequent reform legisation took center stage. The convention focus that year was on things like industrial loan companies and the Community First Act, which ICBA supported.

Jorde grew up in Chicago and as a young person, planned to be a doctor. She ended up being a banker in North Dakota. Things don’t always go as planned, which has been a good thing for the banking industry! Given that she is only 52 years old, I have to suspect she will re-emerge in the industry. The last few times there have been openings on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, her name has come up on the short list of candidates. Terry and her husband Mike make family a priority, but now that their youngest of three children is 19, Terry might have more freedom to consider other options.

Again, Terry, best wishes, in whatever endeavors you pursue!