FDIC Brings Second Action

FDIC brings second action against directors or officers of failed banks

Thomas P. Vartanian, Robert H. Ledig and Lawrence K. Nesbitt

Industry observers have been waiting to see when bank failures arising out of the recent financial crisis would produce a wave of Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) litigation similar to that seen in the early 1990s after the savings and loan crisis. With its second suit in recent months, the FDIC has shown that it will aggressively pursue claims against directors and officers in connection with failed depository institutions.

The FDIC has significantly increased its legal staff in the last few years and has engaged outside law firms to perform professional liability investigations and to conduct litigation in connection with recently failed institutions. Moreover, an FDIC spokesman recently stated that the FDIC has authorized legal actions against seventy former directors and officers of failed banking institutions in an effort to recoup more than $2 billion in losses...

The S&L crisis in the late 1980s brought into sharp focus the potential liability of directors and officers when an insured depository institution fails. The FDIC has stated that it and the Resolution Trust Corporation recovered approximately $6.1 billion from professional liability claims and brought claims against directors and officers in approximately 25% of all bank failures during the S&L crisis period.

Source (via Dave Towne)