DealLawyers.com Blog

July 28, 2009

Proposed FDIC Guidelines for Buyers of Failed Banks

Recently, the FDIC asked for comment on proposed eligibility standards for “private capital investors” who are interested in acquiring failed banks/thrifts, or their deposit liabilities, from the FDIC. The proposals describe the terms and conditions under which the FDIC will evaluate such transactions, including:

There are numerous areas of the proposals that seem to be under-developed; for example, the definition of “private capital investors” is unclear and it is also not known at what ownership levels the proposals would kick in. FDIC Chair Sheila Bair has said that the FDIC expects substantial public comment on the proposals and has also indicated that some items in the proposals may need to be revisited. The comment period ends August 10th. For more on this topic, check out the memos in our “Bank M&A” Practice Area.