New data: Florida banks' health still slipping

It comes as little shock that the health of Florida banks continued to deteriorate in the third quarter of 2008, according to data just compiled by

Bauer Financial Inc

. Weaker Florida banks rose to 52 in the third quarter ended Sept. 30 from 35 in the second quarter. The good news? Few banks based in the immediate Tampa Bay metro area are seriously struggling. The bad news? Lots of coastal area banks — especially from Bradenton south to Naples — that got caught in the speculative real estate boom are listed among Florida's worst bank performers.

The St. Petersburg Times will add these fresh numbers to its easy-to-search bank ratings database in the coming week when Bauer shares its numbers. New credit union ratings will also be available in the coming week. More on credit unions below.

Bauer rates banks by "stars" — zero through 5. A five-star bank is very healthy, a three-star bank is okay and two stars or fewer indicate trouble. A zero-star bank is in deep distress. Here's where to check Bauer Financial directly for the latest bank information, and here for credit union data.

Florida had 11 zero-star, the state's most vulnerable, banks as of the end of the third quarter, up from seven in the previous quarter. (One of those zero-star banks, Bradenton-based Freedom Bank —not to be confused with a St. Petersburg bank with a like name — failed on Oct. 31 and was sold by federal regulators to a Michigan bank.) Here are the state's 11 zero-star banks — the closest ones to the Tampa Bay market being in Sarasota and Ocala:

Bank of Bonifay, Bonifay, FL
BankUnited FSB, Coral Gables
Century Bank FSB, Sarasota
Federal Trust Bank, Sanford
Integrity Bank, Jupiter
Ocala National Bank, Ocala
Ocean Bank, Miami
Premier American Bank, Miami
Republic Federal Bank, Miami
Riverside of the Gulf Coast, Cape Coral
Vision Bank, Panama City

If you do business with these banks, don't let soothing words of any of their executives lull you to sleep. Example: "As Century Bank's president, I want to assure you that Century Bank is positioned to weather these turbulent economic times," says a smiling John P. O'Neill, president of Sarasota's Century Bank on its Web site. Given Florida's deepening recession, these institutions are those most in need of new capital and most likely to face government seizure or a forced sale to a stronger bank.

How to protect yourself? Be absolutely sure that your deposits at these institutions fall below the federal deposit insurance limits as spelled out by the FDIC here. Deposit insurance limits recently increased from $100,000 to $250,000 — temporarily. The limits revert to $100,000 at the end of 2009. Pay attention to services like Bauer (and others) that track the health of financial institutions and choose to do business with healthy ones. And avoid ending up in low-ranked institutions in the first place. Plan ahead.

In the third quarter, the number of one-star banks — in trouble but not as serious as a zero-star bank — rose to six across Florida from two in the previous quarter. Again, none are based in the immediate Tampa Bay metro area, but many are nearby. Here are the six:

Centerbank of Jacksonville
Commerce Bank of Southwest Florida, Fort Myers
Community National bank of Sarasota County, Venice
Flagship National Bank, Bradenton
Florida Community Bank, Immokalee
Peoples First Community Bank, Panama City

Thirty-five banks were declared two-star — weaker than they should be an in need of strengthening — in the third quarter, up from 26 in the prior period. There are three two-star banks in this area, including one in St. Petersburg, one in Tampa and one in Clearwater. Here are all 35:

Bank of Miami, Coral Gables
Bayside Savings Bank, Port St. Joe
Beach Community Bank, Fort Walton Beach
Coastal Community Bank, Panama City Beach
Community Bank of Cape Coral
Community Bank of Manatee, Bradenton
Espirito Santo Bank, Miami
First Commercial Bank of Tampa Bay, Tampa
First Guaranty Bank & Trust of Jacksonville
First National Bank of Florida, Milton
First Peoples Bank, Port St. Lucie
Florida Capital Bank, Jacksonville
Great Florida Bank, Miami
Gulf State Community Bank, Carrabelle
Haven Trust Bank of Florida, Ponte Vedra Beach
Hillcrest Bank Florida, Naples
Horizon Bank, Bradenton
Key West Bank, Key West
Liberty Bank, Naples
Marco Community Bank, Naples
Oceanside Bank, Jacksonville Beach
Oculina Bank, Fort Pierce
Old Harbor Bank, Clearwater
Olde Cypress Community Bank, Clewiston
Orion Bank, Naples
Partners Bank, Naples
Peninsula Bank, Englewood
Prosperity Bank, St. Augustine
Riverside Bank of Central Florida, Winter Park
Riverside National Bank of Florida, Fort Pierce
Royal Palm Bank of Florida, Naples
Security Bank, North Lauderdale
Sun American Bank, Boca Raton
Synovus Bank of Tampa Bay, St. Petersburg
Vanguard Bank and Trust, Valparaiso

And what of the top performers, the five-star institutions in the state that have stayed out of trouble in difficult times? The number of five-star banks dwindled to 26 in the third quarter, from 40 in the second quarter and 71 in the first.

Finally, Bauer also lists Florida banks it calls "start-ups" — institutions still too young to have a track record to judge performance. Here are 13 start-ups in and around the Tampa Bay area, as of Sept. 30.

American Momentum Bank, Tampa
Central Bank, Tampa
First Avenue National Bank, Ocala
Florida Bank of Sarasota
Florida Traditions Bank, Dade City
Gateway Bank of Central Florida, Ocala
Gateway Bank of Southwest Florida, Sarasota
Gulfshore Bank, Tampa
Insignia Bank, Sarasota
Jefferson Bank of Florida, Oldsmar
Northstar Bank, Tampa
Sabal Palm Banks, Sarasota
USAmeribank, Largo

As for Florida's federally-insured credit unions, new Bauer Financial data show only one zero-star institution: Eastern Financial Florida Credit Union in Miramar. It was a zero-star credit union in the second quarter as well. Tampa's Bay Gulf Credit Union is the state's only federally-insured, one-star credit union. There are two two-star credit unions: Florida Episcopal FCU in Orlando and Suncoast Schools Federal Credit Union in Tampa which, with more than $6-billion in assets, is the state's largest credit union.

— Robert Trigaux, Times Business Columnist

source: tampabay.com

link: http://blogs.tampabay.com/venture/2008/12/health-of-flori.html

Florida financial institutions losses grow

Florida’s financial industry struggled with problem loans and mounting losses in the third quarter.

The state’s 275 commercial banks had a combined loss of $151 million in the three months ended Sept. 30, and have lost $159 million in the first nine months of 2008, a report from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said.

It’s a dramatic turnaround from a year earlier. In the third quarter of 2007, 278 commercial banks in Florida had combined net income of $138 million. They earned a combined $631 million in the first nine months of 2007, the FDIC said.

Florida’s 36 savings institutions posted steeper declines, with a combined $408 million in losses in the third quarter of 2008 and $568 million in losses year to date. In the third quarter of 2007, 37 savings institutions lost a combined $13 million, but they were in the black for the first nine months of the year, with a combined $79 million in net income.

Nationally, commercial banks and savings institutions reported net income of $1.7 billion in the third quarter of 2008, a decline of $27 billion, or 94 percent, from the $28.7 billion that industry earned in the third quarter of 2007, the FDIC said in a release.

The FDIC cited higher provisions for loan losses for the drop in industry profits. Loss provisions totaled $50.5 billion nationally, compared to $16.8 billion in the third quarter of 2007, the release said.

Charge-offs, or loans removed from banks’ balance sheets because they were uncollectible, rose in the third quarter, as did noncurrent loans , or loans 90 days or more past due or not accruing interest, the FDIC said.

Nationally, 2.31 percent of all loans were noncurrent at the end of the third quarter, the highest level for the industry since the third quarter of 1993.

Among Florida’s commercial banks, noncurrent loans made up 4.12 percent of all loans as of Sept. 30. Noncurrent loans were 5.19 percent of all loans at Florida savings institutions on Sept. 30, the FDIC said.

The FDIC also said its problem list of troubled institutions grew during the quarter from 117 to 171 institutions, the largest number since the end of 1995. The FDIC does not identify institutions on the problem list.

source: South Florida Business Journal

link to the original post:
http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2008/11/24/daily19.html


Fort Lauderdale Blog and Real Estate News
Rory Vanucchi
RoryVanucchi@gmail.com

http://waterfrontlife.blogspot.com
www.FortLauderdaleLiving.net

What is in store for offshore banking?

Chas Roy-Chowdhury

In the pre-Budget report (PBR) the chancellor made quite a low key comment.

"The government will shortly commission an independent review of British offshore financial centres," he said.

He also made it clear that the UK would not be held responsible for any sums held in the offshore bank accounts, in the same way as it is for the amounts held at UK on-shore bank accounts.

One wonders what is behind all this.

The review will not consider changes to the UK's constitutional relationship.

It will though look at the role of British offshore financial centres in the global economy, and in particular

• financial supervision and transparency
• fiscal arrangements
• financial crisis management and resolution arrangements
• and international cooperation.

What is the problem?

First off, what are these dependencies and territories?

With the transparency will come a greater flow of information about all things to do with tax.

Well they clearly include the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

But what about the more exotic locations such as the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands and Bermuda?

The governments of these three jurisdictions did not issue press releases supporting the review, unlike Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man authorities who did.

But it certainly would not make any sense, if the UK government is trying to take stock of its obligations, for one or more of these offshore jurisdictions to end up in the lurch like Iceland.

Therefore, once the full scope of the review is announced, it will almost certainly seek to look at all the locations where, for whatever reason, the UK government might end up being pushed into guaranteeing the savings of UK citizens.

More than meets the eye

But I think there is also more to it than this. There are probably two other very clear cut agendas behind this exercise.

First, the government will wish to ensure that whatever new regulations emerge from the embers of the current crisis for banks and financial institutions, these offshore jurisdictions are fully signed up to it.

And it will also wish to ensure that the new framework has a great deal of transparency built in to it.

Most importantly, along with the transparency will come a greater flow of information about all things to do with tax.

The government must be keen, as a spin off from the banking crisis, to ensure that UK tax payers do not use off shore jurisdictions to evade paying UK tax.

While the review itself is not specifically about tax, but about government obligations, it will almost certainly seek to enforce tax compliance as an offshoot of the work.

More demands

In the brave new world after the banking crisis, much taxpayers' money will have gone to keeping banks afloat.

We are about to enter interesting times in the offshore banking sector

Governments in the UK, US, other parts of the EU - and many other countries around the world - will no longer tread softly when seeking information from the banks in offshore jurisdictions about its taxpaying, or perhaps insufficiently taxpaying, citizens.

I also think if those demands do not receive a swift response, then the UK and others will work much more in co-operation with one another to obtain what they are after.

I think in any case we are about to enter interesting times in the offshore banking sector where transparency is the name of the game.

But at the end of it all, the mainly Western governments who are seeking information from the off-shore centres may find that their taxpayers were actually being much more honest than they were giving them credit for.

The opinions expressed are those of the author and are not held by the BBC unless specifically stated. The material is for general information only and does not constitute investment, tax, legal or other form of advice. You should not rely on this information to make (or refrain from making) any decisions. Always obtain independent, professional advice for your own particular situation.

source: bbc

link to the original post:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7748803.stm


Fort Lauderdale Blog and Real Estate News
Rory Vanucchi
RoryVanucchi@gmail.com

http://waterfrontlife.blogspot.com
www.FortLauderdaleLiving.net

Your bank's health

Wondering how your bank is doing in these times of financial turmoil? This database of banks in Florida is one way to check — and it shows increasing weakness.

We list the first several banks for you. Type your bank's name in the search box or click on "show all ... results" below to see more. You can also sort results by star ratings and city.

Bauer Financial, a banking analysis firm, uses information supplied by banks to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to assign the "stars" to banks depending on their financial health. Click here to see our star ratings explainer.

Want to learn how your credit union rates? Visit our credit union database. Bank and credit union ratings are updated every quarter when new numbers become available.

Questions or comments? E-mail Becky Bowers at mailto:bbowers@sptimes.com Data on each institution is also available from Bauer Financial at http://www.bauerfinancial.com/

link to the post and complete list:
Your bank's health

source: tampabay.com

Fort Lauderdale Blog and Real Estate News
Rory Vanucchi
RoryVanucchi@gmail.com

http://waterfrontlife.blogspot.com/
http://www.fortlauderdaleliving.net/

Business likely will feel pinch of tighter criteria

Banks based in Lee and Collier counties are saddled with $418.4 million in bad real estate debt — up from $19.1 million two years ago, according to data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Banks are required to report to the FDIC how much they have in loans that aren’t being repaid and the reports for the quarter ended Sept. 30 show an explosion of bad debt.

State and federal regulators have stepped in with public oversight orders directing three local banks — Orion Bank, Riverside Bank and Florida Community Bank — to raise their loan qualifications, step up management and make other improvements.

Experts say the worst is not over: All signs point to increasing debt because of foreclosures already in the pipeline and worsening unemployment.

“Banks and all financial institutions are under a lot of stress because of the overall financial conditions out there now,” said Linda Charity, director of the Division of Financial Institutions of the Florida Office of Financial Regulations. “It’s fair to say this environment is probably going to continue for a while.”

The result is likely to be an increasingly tough borrowing environment for already strapped small businesses and consumers.

One local businessman said he’s already feeling the strain.

“I’m struggling over here,” said custom tailor Remy Fenelus, who owns Remy’s Custom Design in south Fort Myers. Already hard hit by the recession, he had 250 suits stolen by burglars who ransacked his store four weeks ago.

It’s tough to get a bank loan these days, he said.

“You have the credit line with the bank and they just take it away,” he said. “Or they’ll just reduce it to nothing.

It’ll be $200,000 and they reduce it to $10,000. What can you buy with $10,000?”

Bad debt held by banks typically contributes to their customers’ difficulties getting a loan, said Karen Dorway, president of Fort Lauderdale-based BauerFinancial, which tracks bank information nationwide.

“You see a shift in how the management is managing the resources,” she said. “Instead of focusing on the growth and building the company, they’re focusing on how do we solve these problems.”

The oversight agreements are intended to help banks get back on the right track and typically involve the Florida Office of Financial Regulation and either the Federal Reserve Bank or the FDIC, depending on how the bank is chartered.

The regulatory orders can come in a variety of forms, including confidential agreements with banks and public orders.

“It sort of moves up in terms of severity as things progress,” Charity said. “But it is not necessarily a bad thing. It’s a road map and a working partnership with the bank to strengthen the operation.”

An order issued recently to Immokalee-based Florida Community Bank listed 20 stipulations, including tightening lending to customers who already have troubled loans and requiring regulatory approval of new executive officers. The bank had $8.5 million in bad real estate debt in 2006, but had $105.7 million as of Sept. 30.

Bank president and chairman Stephen Price did not respond to requests for comment.

Even if the bank is not consciously tightening lending policies, Dorway said, “if you’re a loan officer and you’re looking at your portfolio and you say ‘My goodness, 3 percent of these loans are non-performing,’” there’s likely to be a more cautious attitude.

Banks that find themselves with a lot of bad debt have to be cautious and deliberate in their lending policies, said David Hall, president of Fort Myers-based First Community Bank of Southwest Florida — the only locally based bank to appreciably reduce its real estate debt this year.

First Community was ordered by the FDIC in June 2005 to stop making construction loans for commercial builders and, in retrospect, that set the bank on a course of financial responsibility, he said.

The bank’s real estate debt was $4.2 million in the third quarter of 2006 and increased to $6.5 million a year later. But it was down to $3.3 million in the latest FDIC report.

Recovering has been hard, Hall said.

“It’s been many late nights and weekends,” he said, but he expects his bank to survive and thrive now. The FDIC’s order was lifted in July 2007.

Any local bank could have cut back on real estate lending as the market went downhill, he said, but many did not.

Why?

“I’ve asked myself that question,” Hall said. “Everybody was up (in bad debt) except our little old bank.”

Other banks haven’t fared so well. Riverside Bank of the Gulf Coast, for example, was being considered for purchase by group of Brazilian businessmen.

But the deal fell through, Riverside chairman Elmer Tabor said Friday — although he noted there are six more interested buyers in the wings.

The Brazilians, he said, passed on the deal because of “not only the instability of the local economy, but the national economy with the markets going wild. They don’t think this is a good time to be putting money in the United States.”

Riverside’s bad real estate debt ballooned from $1.5 million in 2006 to $52.4 million this year. In June it closed four branches and laid off 45 of its 157 employees.

Kent Ellert, who was president of Fifth Third Bank in South Florida until Nov. 1, has formed Southeast Acquisition Holding Corp., with three partners to scout for investment opportunities among cash-strapped local banks.

“We are big-time believers in the long-term strength of the local and state economy and we think the current environment presents some opportunities,” Ellert said.

Ellert said the group will seek investment interest in banks, outright acquisition or might aggregate smaller banks.

source:
news-press.com

link to the original post:
Business likely will feel pinch of tighter criteria



Fort Lauderdale Blog and Real Estate News
Rory Vanucchi
RoryVanucchi@gmail.com

www.LasOlasLifestyles.com
www.FortLauderdaleLiving.net