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There was a time when regulatory orders, strictly written memos of understanding and other command-style communications from regulators to bankers was top news.
The recession and financial sector distress blunted that to the point that Coffee Talk is wonders if it's more newsworthy to highlight the community banks on the Gulf Coast that aren't facing some type of agreement or order. For banks that were active during the boom and bust, that would be a short list.
And with a Nov. 10 announcement from Sarasota-based Landmark Bank, that list grew one bank shorter. Landmark, with $340 million in assets, announced it had entered into a written agreement with the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and the Florida Office of Financial Regulation regarding oversight and procedural issues.
Landmark has five branches in Sarasota and Manatee counties. The bank, one of several in the Sarasota-area that was founded in 1999, lost $9.7 million through Sept. 30, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data.
Landmark President Tom Quale says the agreement, while serious, is more a sign of the way the industry is going than an indication of major trouble at the bank.
“The trend we are seeing is one where regulatory agencies are responding to changes in the economy and the market,” Quale says in a press statement.
The agreement cites 11 points for the bank to follow or take action on, including forming a plan to strengthen the bank's management of its commercial real estate loan portfolio. The agreement stems from the bank's normally scheduled onsite regulatory examination held in June.
The Landmark agreement is one of the lighter ones in regulators' arsenal of orders it can impose on banks and does not contain strict raise-capital-or-else verbiage. It does require Landmark executives to “prepare and submit a written plan for maintaining sufficient capital.”
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