Over three years into this, and we’ve lost many of our local banks: Shoreline Bank, Evergreen Bank, Frontier Bank, Citibank (of Lynnwood) — all taken over by the FDIC.
Still alive? Seattle Bank is fighting a lawsuit in California that threatens its imminent recapitalization. I like these guys, and I’m hoping they prevail. Homestreet Bank, the once proud family-owned Continental Savings, which used to be one of my favorites, is on my prayer list — as in the hit song, “I’ll pray for you.” I hear no good news out of those quarters and from my personal accounts, see their approach to workouts on their bad debts to be fully counterproductive. First Financial Northwest, fka Renton Savings, has had its stock pounded to as low as $3.50/share – but they’ll make it. Sterling Savings Bank, which is one of the largest regional banks (behind Washington Federal), closed on a $700mm recapitalization and is out of the woods. They get five stars for their handing of our accounts and development projects during this crisis. Hope the recap can propel them into bigger and better things.
It’s getting to be a bad habit seeing the Friday afternoon updates coming through from the FDIC on my Android. Hope we see the day — and soon — when those announcements cease altogether.
