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Mark · Site Admin Joined: 13 Nov 2007 Posts: 1052

I bank at Washington Mutual (WaMu). Just noticed this NY Times story:

Government Seizes WaMu and Sells Some Assets

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/26...amp;th&emc=th&oref=slogin

Excerpts:

Washington Mutual, the giant lender that came to symbolize the excesses of the mortgage boom, was seized by federal regulators on Thursday night, in what is by far the largest bank failure in American history.

Regulators simultaneously brokered an emergency sale of virtually all of Washington Mutual, the nation’s largest savings and loan, to JPMorgan Chase for $1.9 billion, averting another potentially huge taxpayer bill for the rescue of a failing institution.
...

But the seizure and the deal with JPMorgan came as a shock to Washington Mutual’s board, which was kept completely in the dark: the company’s new chief executive, Alan H. Fishman, was in midair, flying from New York to Seattle at the time the deal was finally brokered, according to people briefed on the situation. Mr. Fishman, who has been on the job for less than three weeks, is eligible for $11.6 million in cash severance and will get to keep his $7.5 million signing bonus, according to an analysis by James F. Reda and Associates. WaMu was not immediately available for comment.

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Hmmmmmmm. I have a free checking account and my best guess is that there are soon going to be some fees attached to it. They're going to want to squeeze me to compensate Fishman.

Must be time to start looking around for another bank. There are quite a few that offer free checking accounts to seniors who have direct deposit social security checks. But WaMu was the closest to where I live--only a block and a half away. They may even close this branch office as there's a bigger one only ten blocks from me.

Fishman gets $20 million for three weeks work and I won't even get a lousy t-shirt out of the deal. And I'll bet he takes his $20 mil., converts it to Euros, and has it safely stashed offshore by Monday. Wink

mke · Facilitator Joined: 25 Apr 2008 Posts: 27

20 million for 3 weeks work is just mind blowing!!! The really interesting thing to me though, was the way the Federal Regulators were working behind the scenes and without WaMu's knowledge to solicit bids. Sure was beneficial for JPMorgan/Chase. Really interesting!!!