FDIC Sues Former Officers of Failed California Bank

In its latest failed bank lawsuit, the FDIC, in its capacity as receiver of the failed County Bank of Merced, California, has filed a complaint against five former officer of the bank. The FDIC's complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California on January 27, 2012, just short of three years from the date of the bank's closure. A copy of the FDIC's complaint can be found here.

County Bank failed on February 6, 2009 and the FDIC was appointed as its receiver. The FDIC's lawsuit has been filed against five former officers of the bank, each of whom served on the bank's Executive Loan Committee. The complaint alleges claims against them for negligence and breach of fiduciary duty, in connection with 12 loans the bank made between December 2005 and June 2008, which the FDIC says caused the bank losses in excess of $42 million.

The FDIC alleges that the five defendants caused or allowed the bank to make "Imprudent real estate loans, typically for the construction and development of residences." The complaint alleges that the bank's real estate lending represented "significant departures from safe and sound practices." The complaint further alleges that the bank's management "disregarded the Bank's credit policies and approved loans to borrowers who were not credit worthy and/or for projects that provided insufficient collateral and guarantees for repayment."  The complaint further alleges that the bank's management "unwisely continued risky commercial real estate lending in a deteriorating market even after becoming aware of the market decline."

The FDIC filed its complaint only days before the third anniversary of the bank's closure - that is, just before the expiration of the statute of limitations period within which the FDIC could bring its claims. Up until this point during the current bank failure wave, the FDIC has been proceeding very deliberately, in most cases filing lawsuits only after two years or more has elapsed since the date of bank closure.

The FDIC's filing of this action just before the end of the limitations period is reminder that notwithstanding the FDIC's deliberate pace in filing these lawsuits, the FDIC does face certain absolute time deadlines. Moreover, this particular bank's closure occurred at a time when the number of bank closures began to escalate rapidly. The FDIC took control of increasing numbers of banks as 2009 progressed and on in to early 2010, which means that the limitations period within which the FDIC will have to file lawsuits will be about to run out for a host of failed banks in the coming months.

There were a total of 140 bank failures in 2009, ten in February 2009 alone, after only 25 bank failures in all of 2008. The numbers of bank closures escalated even further after February 2009. Indeed, there 95 bank failures in the last six months of 2009. In other words, as we move through 2012, the FDIC will be approaching the statute of limitations deadline for increasing numbers of banks.

In light of the approaching limitations deadline the 2009 bank failures, it seems likely that over the next few months we will see a surge in case filings, many, like the complaint here, filed at the very end of the applicable limitations period.

In any event, the FDIC's action in the County Bank case represents the twenty-first failed bank action the agency has filed so far as part of the current bank failure wave, and already the third so far in 2012. The FDIC's first two actions this year, both of which were filed in Puerto Rico, are described here.

Year End Securities Litigation Review Webinar: On February 1, 2012 at 11:00 am EST, I will be participating in a year-end securities litigation review webinar sponsored by Advisen . The webinar will be moderated by Advisen's Jim Blinn and will also include my good friend David Williams of Chubb. The webinar is free. To register and for additional information, refer here.

Read other items of interest from the world of directors & officers liability, with occasional commentary, at the D&O Diary, a blog by Kevin LaCroix.

For more information about LexisNexis products and solutions connect with us through our corporate site.