weiss nicht ob das bekannt ist: PSBJ Investigates WaMu's Final Days
The Puget Sound Business Journal gives Q13 FOX News a first look at its in depth investigation of what led up to Washington Mutual's downfall.
Dana Rebik Web Reporter
September 24, 2009
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Link to Puget Sound Business Journal
Seattle - It's been one year since the biggest bank failure in US history.
September 25, 2008 was the day Washington Mutual went under, but what hasn't been talked about are the days leading up to the downfall. Our partners at the Puget Sound Business Journal uncovered many of those details in an article being released on news stands Friday.
The PSBJ was able to get former employees of WaMu including the bank's assistant treasurer to go on the record, explaining in detail the bank's final days.
PSBJ reporter Kirsten Grind says it all began in July 2008, when IndyMac went bust. Customers in California lined up in droves to withdraw money from their accounts after news of foreclosures and troubled subprime loans hit. What many don't know is that around the same time, the same exact thing was happening at Washington Mutual.
"The reason the regulators gave for closing the bank was that it was a bank run in September, but WaMu had another bank run in July," says Grind.
A massive run. Customers pulled out $9.4 billion that month, a run seven times larger than the one that crushed IndyMac. WaMu customers withdrew another $15 billion in September. The PSBJ was also able to uncover during the September bank run, customers withdrew $250 million a day from ATM's alone. On a normal day, the cash machines were only replenished with about $30 million.
The article goes on to explain how WaMu CEO Alan Fishman tried to offload the bank to another buyer to protect shareholders before the government stepped in. It was September 25, 2008 when the Feds took control and quickly sold the bank to JP Morgan Chase.
"WaMu had 43,000 employees and a lot were locally based. Even a year later many of those employees still care about WaMu and talk about it constantly. Many of them are still out of work," says Grind.
The PSBJ says many of the former WaMu top execs are still in the midst of massive lawsuits. The FBI launched an investigation last October that is still ongoing. To read the full article, pick up a copy on newstands Friday, September 25, 2009. |
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