FDIC Expands Bidders on Bank/Thrift Assets

With the pace of bank failures quickening, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is going outside the banking community to line up investors to bid on the assets and deposits of failed banks and thrifts. "FDIC recognizes that investors not organized as an FDIC-insured depository institution or holding company may potentially be interested in bidding on a failing institution," according to the agency. The FDIC has designed an expedited application process to get conditional approval for deposit insurance and to get on the FDIC's bidders list. However, investors still have to get preliminary regulatory approval for a bank charter. Applicants should have a business plan that is compliant with the Community Reinvestment Act, readily available capital and an identified management team, the FDIC said. There are 171 institutions on the FDIC's problem bank list with $115.6 billion in assets.