Compliance Blog

Posted by Anthony Demangone

My inbox still runneth over.  Here are some items of interest.

• Director lawsuits.  The FDIC recently announced, that as of December 14, 2010, it had authorized 109 lawsuits against former employees and officials of failed banks.  The lawsuits total roughly $2.5 billion in claims. It is hard to read too much into these types of things.  Just because the FDIC sues one former bank official, it doesn't mean they're more likely to sue another - or that NCUA is more likely to sue a former credit union director.  But I do think it shows that the FDIC is actively looking at failed institutions to see if there are actionable claims.  And NCUA has not ruled out lawsuits against former directors either.  In addition, these types of announcements are always a good reminder that good corporate governance is important.  A strong board, supervisory committee, and senior management are essential.  And that can take up resources in finding the right people and getting them the tools they need to do their job. 
• SCRA foreclosure provisions.  Certain provisions of the SCRA related to foreclosures were supposed to sunset at the end of 2010.  President Obama's signature extended those provisions for an additional two years.
• White House.  President Obama reportedly is considering bringing in William Daley, a pro-business bank executive (and former Commerce Secretary), as his chief of staff.  (Bloomberg.) Any injection of business and banking knowledge should be a good thing as Daley would be able to counsel the President on how administration actions might affect financial institutions. (Reports were that an announcement was imminent at "press time.")
• Oversight.  Here's another story highlighting GOP plans to closely review financial reform. (Washingtonpost.com) 

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My son Briggs has not been the world's best sleeper.  Over the past 21 months, I've seen quite a few 2 a.m.airings of ESPN's SportsCenter.  The little guy would just get up around 1 or 2 a.m., and stay awake for 90 minutes.  Any attempt to reintroduce him to his crib was met with protests more effective than one can imagine.  My wife and I live in a 3-square foot condo surrounded by neighbors, so the thought of him screaming through the night invariably led to thoughts of my car getting "keyed."  So SportsCenter and I became fast friends.

Over the Holidays, we visited my sister.  Her home has spare rooms, so we put Senor Briggs and his sister down for the night and shut the door.  He hollered.  He screamed.  At one point, he even seemed to yodel.  But we stayed firm, knowing that all offended ears were related to us by blood or marriage.

It worked.  He may have been a bit angry with me, but by the second night, he figured it out.  He was stuck. And he started sleeping through the night. For those of you not familiar with kids and their sleep habits, let me say this.  When a child starts sleeping through the night, you notice an improvement in your life. I put it up there with the invention of fire, indoor plumbing, and televised baseball.

So we got cocky.  Oh, our life is back to normal, we exclaimed.  All the while, the Gods were chuckling.

We put Master Briggs down for the night recently, knowing he was down for the night.  A bottle of wine was opened.  We settled in for the evening.  Then we heard...it.  The door handle was jiggling.  I opened the door, and there was Master Briggs with a big smile. He had figured out how to get out of his crib.  Was it a smile he had?  Perhaps a "sly grin" is more accurate.

As I said in the title, when one door opens...another door...opens. (Sigh.)  Have a great weekend, everyone!

"You do realize, Dad - I'm calling the shots one way or the other."