Bill would transfer state money from big banks

BY: Associated Press
POSTED: March 17, 2010

ANNAPOLIS — Some lawmakers who are angry about high interest rates at big banks are pushing to shift state contracts into local community banks.

Delegate Bill Frick, D-Montgomery, held a news conference on Wednesday to talk about a measure he’s sponsoring to move state money away from “Wall Street megabanks.”
Making a reference to St. Patrick’s Day, [...]

Bernanke to wage fresh battle for Fed powers over banks

BY: Associated Press
POSTED: March 17, 2010

WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke plans to wage a fresh battle against Senate efforts to scale back the Fed’s role in supervising the nation’s banks.
In testimony prepared for a House of Representatives hearing on Wednesday obtained by The Associated Press, Bernanke argued that the Fed factors in information it gets from its role [...]

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 [...]