Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Chicago Business Corus Bankshares Inc. on cusp of crisis

FDIC may seize 'critically undercapitalized' Chicago-based lender
By Becky Yerak | Tribune reporter
August 2, 2009

Chicago business attorney and former chief legal counsel for the FDIC in the Midwest, said, "The fact that there is so much uncertainty about the bank's loans, as well as its relatively large size, makes it less certain that another bank would bid for Corus."

Some believe it might make sense for real estate firms or private-equity funds to make a play for Corus' troubled assets because investments in distressed real estate might pay off in a year or two as the market rebounds.

Many private-equity firms and other investment funds are flush with cash and have expressed interest in buying failed insured banks. The FDIC, on the one hand, wants to preserve its insurance fund and would like to find investors to take failed banks off its hands, but it also wants to ensure that the failed banks' new owners don't create more problems down the road.