The Housing Chronicles Blog: IndyMac now officially history

Friday, July 11, 2008

IndyMac now officially history

It's now official: the former IndyMac Bancorp has been shut down by the Office of Thrift Supervision taken over by the FDIC, making it the most prominent casualty of the mortgage meltdown (led in great part by its focus on no-doc loans). In its place on Monday will emerge a leaner, meaner IndyMac Federal Bank. From a CNBC story (hat tip to Brian McDonald):

IndyMac Bancorp has been shut down and its operations will be taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the regulator that oversees the retail bank said.

The Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) said it shuttered the $32 billion bank, headquartered in Pasadena, Calif., on Friday. A successor institution, IndyMac Federal Bank, will open for business on Monday.

IndyMac becomes the biggest retail bank to fall victim to the U.S. mortgage crisis...

Schumer on Friday blamed the OTS and IndyMac itself for the bank's closing.

"IndyMac’s troubles, just like Countrywide’s, were caused by practices that began and persisted over the last several years, not by anything that happened in the last few days," the senator said in a statement. "If OTS had done its job as regulator and not let IndyMac’s poor and loose lending practices continue, we wouldn’t be where we are today. Instead of pointing false fingers of blame, OTS should start doing its job to prevent future IndyMacs."

Take that, OTS!


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