Monday, May 18, 2009

Bad Banks 2009 Q1: Preview

The last few call reports have come in and I have taken a look at the 10 largest banks (by Tier 1 capital) on the 2008 Q4 list:

- I really do not know why Corus Bank, Frontier Bank and BankUnited have not been closed. They either have or are approaching negative equity and are exposed to the hardest hit geographic locations.

- I don't understand how the bank's domiciled in Puerto Rico are hanging on. They have small branch networks and are supported by mainly brokered deposits. R-G Premier, WesternBank and Doral Bank are not improving to put it mildly.

- AmTrust is not long for this world either. Despite a few run-ins with regulators, capital adequacy continues to fall.

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