Monday, November 02, 2009
Timothy Geithner and Sheila Bair (photo: AP)
It’s not uncommon for one part of the federal government to not know what another is planning even when both are working on the same thing. But what happened in Chicago late last week was particularly intriguing, in light of the fact that heads of the two government operations in question don’t get along.
On Friday morning, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner appeared in the Windy City to announce that his department was awarding $50 million to Park National Bank Initiatives to help stimulate investment in low-income communities. The celebration was brief, however, because by that evening Park National Bank Initiatives was shut down by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which is run by Sheila Bair, who has butted heads with Geithner since hejoined the Obama administration.
The bank closure came as part of the FDIC seizure of parent Park National and the entire FBOP Corp., which owns banks throughout Illinois. Several lawmakers pleaded with FDIC officials to delay the closure, but were unsuccessful.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Regulators Seize FBOP Banks (by Becky Yerak, Chicago Tribune)
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