Financial institutions saw regulatory orders and actions by federal banking regulators ease for the first time in at least four quarters, according to the Third-Quarter 2009 Regulatory Actions report from MortgageDaily.com. But more cease-and-desist orders were issued.
The report reflects orders and other actions against federally insured institutions by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve, the National Credit Union Administration, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision.
During the third quarter, 257 actions were tracked, decreasing from 263 in the second quarter.
MortgageDaily.com began tallying the quarterly totals in the third-quarter 2008, when 111 actions were tracked — and this was the first quarterly decline during that period.
“While the data indicate we’ll continue to see an elevated level of bank failures — with this year’s pace at more than 50 per quarter — it also suggests that the rate of bank failures might be near or past the peak,” said MortgageDaily.com Founder and Publisher Sam Garcia. “One big caveat, however, is residential delinquency that is expected to continue rising until at least summer. The outlook for commercial mortgage defaults is even more bleak.”
Despite the quarterly decline in overall orders, cease-and-desist orders climbed to 98 from the second quarter’s 86. Bank failures are often preceded by cease-and-desist orders.
Also higher were the number of formal agreements, rising to 67 from 64, and removal-and-prohibition orders, which climbed to 31 from 24.
Banks, however, faced fewer civil money penalties.
| Type of Order | Q3 2009 |
| Agreement (written and formal) | 67 |
| Capital Directive | 1 |
| Cease-and-Desist | 98 |
| Civil Money Penalty | 49 |
| Prompt Corrective Action | 10 |
| Removal-and-Prohibition | 31 |
| Termination of Insurance | 1 |
| Total | 257 |
Actions by the FDIC drove the third-quarter decline, falling to 143 from the prior quarter’s 151. Still, FDIC activity was well above 67 actions tracked a year earlier.
OCC activity also eased from the second quarter, but Fed actions were up by half.
| Regulator | Q3 2009 |
| Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation | 143 |
| Federal Reserve | 58 |
| Office of the Comptroller of the Currency | 55 |
| Office of Thrift Supervision | 1 |
| TOTAL | 257 |
