Barack Obama’s Finance Chairwoman And The Seized Superior Bank
By Uppity Woman on April 4, 2008 at 4:15 PM in Bamboozling, Barack Obama, Current Affairs, FDIC, Penny Pritzker
In a previous post, I referred to Barack Obama’s interesting relationship with Wall street, Bankers and Sub-Prime lenders. I also mentioned Barack Obama’s Finance Chairperson, Penny Pritzker. We all know that Barack Obama hangs out with some interesting people and Penny Pritzker is no exception. I thought you might like to know more about Penny Pritzker and the closing of Superior Bank, which was owned by the Pritzker family.
The Pritzkers are one of the nation’s wealthiest families and heirs to the fortune created by the Hyatt hotels. Yes, Penny is a billionaire. So basically, Penny could squash me like a bug right now for writing this.
Among their other endeavors, the Pritzkers were the owners of Superior Bank in Hinsdale, Illinois when it was seized. Yes, I did say seized.
Here’s a Press Release from the Office of Thrift Supervision, Bureau of the US Treasury:
OTS Closes Superior Bank FSB; Hinsdale, Ill. Thrift is Insolvent
WASHINGTON – The Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) closed Superior Bank FSB, Hinsdale, Ill., today and appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver.
The FDIC transferred the insured deposits and substantially all the assets of Superior Bank into a newly chartered, full-service mutual savings bank, known as Superior Federal, FSB, which will open for business on Monday morning. All depositors of Superior Bank automatically become depositors of Superior Federal, and will have immediate access to their insured funds. All 18 of Superior Bank’s Chicago metropolitan area offices will open for business Monday and will continue to offer full banking services, including online banking. Superior Bank’s loan production and servicing operations will also continue to operate normally.
OTS used its authority under the FDIC Improvement Act of 1991 to close Superior Bank when it found that the bank remained critically undercapitalized — that its tangible equity capital was less than two percent of its total assets. The bank failed to implement a capital restoration plan that it submitted to OTS on May 24 this year.
Superior Bank suffered as a result of its former high-risk business strategy, which was focused on the generation of significant volumes of subprime mortgage and automobile loans for securitization and sale in the secondary market. OTS found that the bank also suffered from poor lending practices, improper record keeping and accounting, and ineffective board and management supervision.
Superior became critically undercapitalized largely due to incorrect accounting treatment and aggressive assumptions for valuing residual assets. The bank also experienced significant losses during 2000 from its automobile lending program.
OTS has determined that Superior Bank is insolvent, having incurred losses that have depleted all or substantially all of its capital. OTS also determined that Superior Bank was no longer able to transact business in a safe and sound manner.
OTS notified the bank of its serious concerns in July 2000. The bank was purchased by two families in 1988 — the Pritzker family of Chicago, owner of Hyatt Hotels and other interests, and the Dworman family of New York, with interests in real estate and financial services activities — and was operated through a complex network of holding companies.
In light of these findings, OTS determined that closure and the appointment of FDIC as receiver were necessary to protect the interests of the bank’s insured depositors.
As of March 31, 2001, the failed bank had total assets of $1.9 billion and total deposits of $1.5 billion. FDIC insures depositors’ accounts up to the statutory limit of $100,000.
Superior is the only bank that OTS has closed in 2001, and only the fourth OTS-regulated institution closed in the past five years.
The FDIC has established a toll free telephone number for customers of Superior. That number is 1-800-331-6306, and will be available until midnight tonight and then from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily thereafter.
I thought you might also like to hear an interview with one of Penny Pritzker’s victims and how this bank closing affected her life. You will also hear her reaction to the thought that Barack Obama would hire Penny Pritzker as his campaign Finance Chair, not to mention her horrified reaction to the thought that Ms. Pritzker might one day be “Secretary of the Treasury”. If “Play” doesn’t work, Click in MP3 Stream link. Buckle your seat belt first, please. This woman does not spare details and is not in a good mood. I suppose I wouldn’t be in a very good mood either if I lost my savings to Penny Pritzker.
I guess the main stream media didn’t think this Petty little Penny Pritzker Problem (say that three times fast) was important enough to look into.
Additional links on this bilking of innocent people:
NY Times, December, 2001
FDIC Failed Bank Information – Superior Bank
OTS Closes Superior Bank FSB; Hinsdale, Ill. Thrift is Insolvent
OTS Announces Resolution of Charges Against Auditor of Closed Superior Bank FSB
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