Share
After British chain WHSmith backed out of a deal with Borders, the British retailer, formerly a subsidiary of the U.S. megastore bookseller, is desperately looking to stave off bankruptcy and Chapter 7 liquidation.
I love Borders and have been an avid shopper at countless Borders stores near where I have lived in D.C., L.A., New [...]

Share
Starwood Capital Group gets the assets in a consortium with TPG capital, Perry Capital and WLR LeFrak (another Wilbur Ross company – this guy is cleaning up in the FDIC private equity bonanza).
Here’s the press release:
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has signed a bid confirmation letter to sell a 40 percent equity interest in [...]

Share
There is an effort underway to install the Federal Reserve as super-regulator for all banks and financial institutions, concentrating power in one institution. I find these efforts one of the most disturbing outgrowths of the financial crisis we have been witnessing. Such a system is sure to increase the power of too big to fail [...]

Share
The FDIC has just released a press statement outlining the second quarter results for the fund and the financial institutions it regulates.  What was particularly notable in the statement was the decrease in funds available to deal with failed institutions and the increase in the number of problem institutions to 416. This surely indicates that [...]

Share
With the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) about to release its latest figures for banks it regulates and its own financial condition, now is a good time to review its role in this crisis. This post is about the FDIC’s role in the credit crisis, how it seizes banks and why I believe this matters.
In [...]

Share
It’s official: Guaranty Bank is the second-largest bank seized by the FDIC in 2009. BBVA, through its American subsidiary Compass, is increasing its profile in the US. And now it can do so, not only through merger, but through FDIC asset seizure too. Here is the announcement that was leaked just yesterday:
Guaranty Bank, Austin, TX [...]

Share
I was heading to dinner with Marshall Auerback when the news of the BankUnited bust came into my inbox. I see this as fairly big new for what it represents. We are witnessing a sea change in how FDIC seizures are done here with private equity companies ready to get in on the profits. Let [...]

Let’s talk a little about the data released on Friday. On the plus (contrarian) side, everybody is talking about the unemployment number and NOBODY happened to mention that consumer credit was UP on Friday, even before TALF. I think we are very close to the bottom. I think that New York Fed President Dudley is screaming to the investment funds, hedge funds, private equity to do these deals with TALF.

I do not think General Electric is AAA company — far from it. Their finance arm GE Capital is at the center of the private equity and asset-backed security time bombs that have yet to explode. And this makes the cash flow expected from GE Capital vulnerable because they are under-reserving. Translation: their financial results are artificially goosed by not reserving for likely losses.

In previous posts I have argued that GE must cut its dividend and that it will lose its AAA credit rating, despite an investment by Warren Buffett. The following video which focuses on the under-reserving at General Electric demonstrates why.

Share
The Times reports today that Bradford and Bingley was rescued from the verge of collapse by private equity investors. This follows their report at the weekend on the dismissal of the Chief Executive and the profit warning they have issued. See my Saturday post on that topic.
The events at B&B are absolutely shambolic. [...]