Tough time for historic Baltimore bank
BY: Danielle Ulman
POSTED: March 10, 2010
Ideal Federal Savings Bank’s single branch has anchored the corner of Druid Hill Avenue and Wilson Street since 1920, when its founders opened to give loans to community members when no one else would.
But the neighborhood mainstay and historic black Baltimore financial institution could serve its last customer this spring.
Federal regulators have ordered the bank [...]
Is commercial real estate the next shoe to drop? 
BY: Danielle Ulman
POSTED: March 9, 2010
For more than a year, economists and market-watchers have been wondering out loud whether commercial real estate is the “next shoe to drop” in the country’s ongoing economic crisis.
Last month, a Congressional Oversight Panel made the issue an official worry of the U.S. government by publishing a report titled, “Commercial Real Estate Losses and [...]
Federal regulators close Waterfield Bank
BY: Danielle Ulman
POSTED: March 5, 2010
Federal regulators shut down Waterfield Bank Friday evening, the third bank to fail in Maryland since 2009.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took over as receiver after the Germantown-based bank could not find a merger partner or liquidate its assets.
The Office of Thrift Supervision has set up a new institution, Waterfield Bank FA, to [...]
Bank of America warrants sale raises $1.54 billion
BY: Associated Press
POSTED: March 4, 2010
The Treasury Department has received a record $1.54 billion from the sale of warrants it received from Bank of America as part of the support it provided during the financial crisis.
The Treasury said Thursday it sold 272.17 million warrants in an auction held because Bank of America and the government could not agree upon an [...]
Time is running short for Waterfield Bank
BY: Danielle Ulman
POSTED: February 18, 2010
Germantown-based Waterfield Bank could face failure if it cannot find a merger partner or sell its assets.
On Feb. 3, the Office of Thrift Supervision gave the bank two weeks to merge or sell after it determined that Waterfield could not come up with a good plan to recapitalize. OTS was delayed in posting [...]
First Mariner shares priced at $1.15
BY: Danielle Ulman
POSTED: February 16, 2010
First Mariner Bancorp’s shareholders will have the option to buy shares of its stock at $1.15 each to increase capital levels at its bank, the company said in a preliminary regulatory filing Tuesday.
First Mariner hopes to raise $20 million to meet the bar set by a variety of regulators last year requiring stronger capital [...]
Hale buying trust preferred securities, won’t buy more First Mariner shares
BY: Danielle Ulman
POSTED: February 4, 2010
First Mariner Bancorp’s chief executive has agreed to buy up $20 million of trust preferred securities from the company in exchange for $2 million in common stock and warrants to increase its equity.
The exchange with Edwin F. Hale Sr., also the bank’s chairman, will have to be approved by company shareholders. The move also means [...]
Regulators want to close loophole that allows 700% interest rates
BY: Nicholas Sohr
POSTED: February 3, 2010
Comments: 1
ANNAPOLIS — State financial regulators pressed lawmakers on Wednesday to tighten payday lending rules to rein in the cost of short-term loans.
The bill would close what Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation officials say is a loophole that lenders have taken advantage of to charge the equivalent of up to 700 percent annual interest [...]
1st Mariner shares rebound
BY: Danielle Ulman
POSTED: February 2, 2010
Shares of First Mariner Bancorp’s stock traded above $1 for 10 consecutive business days as of Tuesday, likely eliminating the possibility of it being delisted.
In December, NASDAQ warned the company that its stock had fallen below the Global Market minimum requirements of a $5 million market cap and a share price of $1 for 30 [...]
Sandy Spring Bancorp loses $4.4M in 4th quarter
BY: Danielle Ulman
POSTED: January 28, 2010
Hampered by the troubled housing market, Maryland’s largest independent community bank lost $4.4 million in the fourth quarter, Sandy Spring Bancorp reported Thursday.
The parent of Olney-based Sandy Spring Bank said its per share loss was 27 cents, compared to a net loss of $3.8 million, or 23 cents a share, in the fourth quarter of [...]
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