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Department of Agriculture figures contradict banking industry complaints that the Farm Credit System is reducing their agricultural loan business. The figures show an increase in the share of commercial bank lending to farmers from 22% in 1982 to 37% in 1992. The Farm Credit System's share dropped from 32% to 25% in the same period. Farm banks insist that low Farm Credit System interest rates provide unfair competition, but the figures show they enjoyed record profits in 1992., Farm bankers often complain that the federal Farm Credit System is eating their lunch, but some numbers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture show otherwise. Since 1982, the data show, [...]

WASHINGTON -- A federal appeals court dealt a blow to Glendale Federal Bank on Tuesday, ruling against the big California thrift on a key point in its battle to count [...]

GlenFed Inc is trying to avoid government action on its Glendale Federal Bank by raising at least $350 million in capital. Glendale Federal was given till Jun 30, 1993 to increase its core capital from 2.76% to 5%, and increase its risk-based capital from 5.73% to 10%. Glenfed is involved in a $1.4 billion lawsuit with the government over supervisory goodwill that the bank was forced to write off. A rights offering is one of the options that Glenfed will probably chose in raising the needed capital., WASHINGTON - Glenfed Inc. is negotiating a deal to raise $350 million to $400 million in capital and avert government action against Glendale Federal Bank, according to Stephen J. Trafton, [...]

The Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) allowed Wauwatosa Savings and Loan Association to leave the Federal Home Loan Bank System on Apr 1, 1993. Wauwatosa decided to leave the system back in Sep 1989, because the money it had tied up in low-yielding home loan bank stocks could earn more somewhere else. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation did not oppose Wauwatosa's withdrawal from the system, and only the OTS opposed the move on grounds that the state-chartered savings and loan association was required to maintain its membership., WASHINGTON - A Wisconsin thrift has won its three-year battle to break away from the Federal Home Loan Bank System. Wauwatosa Savings and Loan Association, striking a blow against a [...]

Green Point Savings Bank and Astoria Federal Savings and Loan Association plan to convert from mutual to stock ownership with major initial public offerings. Green Point, with $6.5 billion in assets, could raise as much as $800 million with a stock offering; Astoria has $3.4 billion in assets and could raise $300 million. Increased strength of thrift stocks has fueled an increase in the number of institutions opting for conversion from 69 worth $775 million in 1990 to 91 worth $1.1 billion in 1992., Two big New York thrifts have announced plans to switch from mutual to stock ownership, in conversions that would be among the largest ever. The institutions are Green Point Savings [...]

Officials at the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) told regulators to ease up on savings and loan associations experiencing financial difficulties. OTS officials say the worst part of the savings and loan association bailout crisis is over and that regulators now should concentrate on helping thrifts negotiate during financially troubled times rather than shutting them down. The OTS noted remarkable improvement in the savings and loan industry in 1992 and 1993. Most of the 464 thrifts experiencing financial difficulties in fall 1990 are now doing well., WASHINGTON -- Thrift regulators, having decided that the worst of the savings and loan crisis is over, told examiners at a closed meeting last week to alter their aggressive style. [...]

Savings and loan associations may end up paying 6 to 9 basis points more than banks for deposit insurance under new rules being considered by Congress. Thrifts are currently insured through the Savings Association Insurance Fund (SAIF). The thrift fund would be forced out of business if it had to pay more than banks, which are insured through the Bank Insurance Fund. Thrift industry experts estimate baseline losses for SAIF at $2.7 billion for fiscal 1994., WASHINGTON - The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. says that savings and loans could end up paying 6 to 9 basis points more than banks for deposit insurance under legislation being [...]

The nation's undercapitalized savings institutions have gotten the go-ahead from the Office of Thrift Supervision to raise their capital levels through offerings in the capital market. Several banks have completed or are planning offerings, including Charter Federal Savings Bank of Bristol, VA, Dime Savings Bank of New York, California Federal Bank FSB and Glendale Federal Bank. Many bank and regulatory officials favor such offerings as an alternative to closing down unstable institutions., WASHINGTON -- The Office of Thrift Supervision is urging undercapitalized savings institutions to take advantage of the favorable interest rate environment to raise capital. 'We are currently in an economic [...]

The Office of Thrift Supervision has offered to ease the regulatory burden on lending institutions as an incentive for the institutions to increase the availability of home mortgages. Savings and loan officials have charged that community reinvestment regulation is less concerned with lending results than with paperwork. Some in the industry feel that the economy, rather than regulation, is to blame for tighter lending practices., WASHINGTON - The Office of Thrift Supervision is offering to ease some rules and reduce paperwork in exchange for an increase in affordable-housing loans. The proposal was made in a [...]

Rural bankers believe the Farm Credit System (FCS) is an unfair competitor. Lending institutions that comprise the FCS are able to borrow money cheaper than banks that are not involved with the FCS. This allows FCS banks and credit associations to undercut non-FCS lenders. Additionally, farmers tend to favor FCS institutions because they feel these lenders are more responsive and offer better services than commercial lenders. Other issues affecting the agricultural loan market are discussed., WASHINGTON - Rural bankers say they are losing ground in the $140 billion agricultural loan market to an unfair competitor: Uncle Sam. The federal Farm Credit System is misusing built-in [...]

The Federal Housing Finance Board has recommended that the Federal Home Loan Bank System be modified to reflect the realities of the housing and financial markets of the 1990s. The Home Loan Bank System is required to spend $300 million per year to help bail out ailing savings and loans and $50 million per year on affordable housing projects. Financing these obligations while still providing reasonable returns to member banks is putting considerable strain on the Home Loan Bank System., WASHINGTON - Back when children still walked miles through the snow to school and some small communities depended on a single savings and loan for the credit to build houses, [...]

Government ethics rules prohibit Federal Home Loan Bank of New York Pres Alfred A. DelliBovi from contacting the Federal Housing Finance Board, the bank's overseer. This restriction was placed on DelliBovi until Nov 30, 1993, to prevent him from influencing the board because when he was Department of Housing and Urban Development Deputy Sec DelliBovi sat in on board meetings. The ban is not significantly impacting operations., WASHINGTON -- Imagine if Alan Greenspan were prohibited from speaking to Gerald Corrigan. Seem pretty farfetched? Maybe for Mr. Greenspan's Federal Reserve System. Bu just such a ban is in [...]

Pres Bill Clinton's proposed FY 1994 budget calls for increased numbers of bank regulators, less involvement by banks in student loans and the establishment of a community development bank network. With the exception of the Office of Thrift Supervision, all bank regulatory agencies will expand their staffs, some by as much as 19.5%. A pilot program of direct student loans will receive $514 million in 1994, with the goal of phasing out the current guaranteed student loan program by 1997. Finally, $45 million will go to supplement and assist community development banks., WASHINGTON - President Clinton's budget foresees growth in the bank regulatory agencies, a shrinking role for banks in higher education loans, and creation of the much-discussed network of community development [...]

Bank lobbyists experience difficulty swaying Congress to believe that bank laws have hurt the industry amid record bank profits in 1992. Savings and loans reported their best year since 1978 with $5.1 billion in profits. Commercial banks also showed $32.2 billion in profits, 80% more than 1991 earnings. With record profits many congressional members are not willing to listen to bankers complaints about the cost of complying with new banking regulations., Burgeoning bottom lines at thrifts and banks create a dilemma for their lobbyists. It has become more difficult to convince Congress that recently enacted laws aimed at ensuring safety and [...]

The Supreme Court dealt a serious setback to thrift's trying to fight off government seizure by counting supervisory goodwill as an intangible asset. Charter Federal Savings Bank is one of 44 financial institutions that have challenged a 1989 law that does not allow goodwill to be counted as capital. The Office of Thrift Supervision was forced by a lower court in Dec 1992 to allow Charter Federal to count its goodwill as capital., WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court on Monday dealt a blow to some thrifts' life-or-death battle to reverse an accounting change required by Congress. The court declined to hear an appeal [...]

The Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS), in a case involving Charter Federal Savings Bank of Bristol, VA, has made an allowance for thrifts to include goodwill on their balance sheets. The OTS has traditionally followed the letter of the law regarding goodwill by not allowing financially troubled thrifts to include intangible assets as capital. Neither Charter Federal or the OTS has revealed the letter outlining the case, which raises questions on how broad the new ruling may be., Glendale Federal Bank and a number of other undercapitalized thrifts are hoping that a little-publicized regulatory decision could help them stave off seizure. All the thrifts have one thing in [...]

System Needs a Broader Mission, Says Dallas Chief American Banker: What changes, if any, would you like to see in the Federal Home Loan Bank System? George Barclay: I would [...]

WASHINGTON -- Former Treasury Secretary William E. Simon had proposed splitting his critically undercapitalized Western Federal Savings and Loan Association into a good bank specializing in minority loans and a [...]

Incoming Calif. Leader Cites Worries over Savings Fund Q&A The California League of Savings Institutions searched for months for a president to replace Jay Janis, who died in October. Late [...]

Glenfed Inc. said Thursday that it has cleared a major hurdle in the planned recapitalization of its troubled thrift unit. The holding company's debenture holders and preferred stockholders of Glendale [...]

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston won approval from its regulator on Wednesday to extend a $25 million line of credit to a state housing finance agency. [...]

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is back in the black. Since yearend, the agency's Bank Insurance Fund has increased its balance to $1.2 billion from a deficit of [...]

WASHINGTON -- The Clinton administration appointed Donna H. Cunninghame, 53, as chief financial officer of the Resolution Trust Corp. Since 1985, she has been associate vice chancellor for financial affairs [...]

WASHINGTON - Banks should not have to pay more for funds from the Federal Home Loan Bank System than do savings and loans, its regulator recommended in a report to [...]

WASHINGTON - The federal government has agreed to accept up to $4. million in cash and assets to settle a suit against a consultant and two former officers of a [...]

WASHINGTON -- The $12 billion approved last week by a House subcommittee to capitalize the new thrift insurance fund should be adequate, a senior Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. official said [...]

Acting Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS), Jonathan L. Fiechter's salary would drop from $162,331 per year to $123,100 per year were he selected director of the agency. Although he is a career government employee, he is not the highest paid member of the OTS staff. Three other employees, Angelo A. Vigna, regional director for the Northeast, William Black, senior deputy chief counsel for enforcement and litigation in San Francisco, CA, and John F. Downey, deputy director for regional operations, earn more per year than Fiechter. Additional information about OTS employee salaries is provided., Acting savings and loan czar Jonathan L. Fiechter must be counting his blessings - about $40,000 of them - that the Clinton administration seems to be in no hurry to [...]

WASHINGTON -- The Resolution Trust Corp.'s inspector general has faulted the agency for maintaining a property management contract with Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen's son and said that a proper review [...]

WASHINGTON -- The Office of Thrift Supervision is considering a policy change that would require attorneys that represent savings and loans to certify that they will adhere to ethical standards. [...]

WASHINGTON - The Office of Thrift Supervision has placed Pioneer Savings and Loan Association of Prairie Village, Kan., in receivership. A successor institution, Pioneer Federal Savings and Loan, was set [...]

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court said Tuesday that unclaimed interest, dividends, and other securities distributions are the property of the state where the depository institution holding them is incorporated. The [...]

WASHINGTON - The Resolution Trust Corp. expects to recover $28 million of the estimated $54 million it is owed by Treasury Secretary Lloyd of Bentsen's son, according to details of [...]

WASHINGTON - The Federal Housing Finance Board voted Wednesday not to force the Federal Home Loan Bank System to increase direct funding for mortgages. The housing finance board, which oversees [...]

WASHINGTON -- Savings and loans will be permitted to hold less capital against certain equity investments as a result of a rule change announced Friday that brings thrift requirements in [...]

The Office of Thrift Supervision is planning to release the approximately 600 state savings institutions from mandatory membership in the Federal home loan bank system effective 1995. The core of the system's membership would continue to be the 1,300 federal savings institutions. In addition, some 1,300 commercial banks and 25 credit unions have joined the system since the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 was passed. State thrifts have sought the change because of disappointing dividends paid on home loan bank stock., WASHINGTON -- The Office of Thrift Supervision is preparing to free state-chartered savings and loans from mandatory membership in the Federal Home Loan Bank System. Under a policy change announced [...]