Saturday, October 23, 2010

Weiss Ratings Press Release


Martin D. Weiss, chairman of Weiss Ratings, commented: “Although only some portion of the past-due loans will ultimately go into foreclosure, these figures tell us that the biggest players are not only in deep, but could sink even deeper into the mortgage mayhem. Meanwhile, however, there are also some large banks that have done a relatively good job of avoiding the brunt of the crisis.”


Table 1.
Large U.S. Banks and Thrifts with Most Foreclosed Mortgages
(with total assets of $10 billion or more)
Institution (State)

Foreclosed and In Process ($Mil)

Past Due Mortgages1 ($Mil)

Total ($Mil)

JPMorgan Chase Bank (Ohio)21,73343,39565,128
Wells Fargo Bank (S.D)20,52448,03768,561
Bank of America, NA (N.C)20,29754,60874,905
Citibank, NA (Nev.)6,30319,24725,550
U.S. Bank NA (Ohio)4,2625,3089,570
PNC Bank, NA (Del.)3,4835,5018,984
SunTrust Bank (Ga.)3,2164,1477,362
Branch Banking and Trust Co (N.C.)2,0792,2294,308
Fifth Third Bank (Ohio)1,1381,1992,337
Regions Bank (Ala.)1,0401,1702,211
Bank and Thrift Industry Total125,791253,237379,028
1Past-due mortgages include 30-89 days past due, 90+ days past due, and nonaccruing.
Data Source: SNL Financial Bank Regulatory Data

“In addition to the volume of bad mortgages, the vulnerability of each bank to the foreclosure crisis depends on the capital and loan loss reserves it has set aside to cover losses and other factors such as its earnings, liquidity, reliance on less-stable deposits, and the quality of its overall loan portfolio,” Weiss added.

Table 2.
Large U.S. Banks with Highest Foreclosures as a % of Capital (with total assets of $10 bill or more and total foreclosures of $1 bill or more)

Institution (State)In Foreclosure and Past Due Mortgages as % of Tier 1 Capital2Weiss
Financial Strength
Rating
Wells Fargo Bank, NA (S.D.)75.4D
JPMorgan Chase Bank, NA (Ohio)66.8D
Bank of America, NA (N.C.)66.0D
SunTrust Bank (Ga.)57.6D-
U.S. Bank NA (Ohio)53.8D
PNC Bank, NA (Del.)35.9D+
Branch Banking and Trust Co (N.C.)30.9C-
Citibank, NA (Nev.)25.3D+
Regions Bank (Ala.)20.1D-
Fifth Third Bank (Ohio)16.9C-
Bank and Thrift Industry Aggregate33.3%
2 Tier 1 Capital consists of common shareholders’ equity, perpetual preferred shareholders’ equity with noncumulative dividends, retained earnings, and minority interests in the equity accounts of consolidated subsidiaries. It does not include loan loss reserves.
Weiss Financial Strength Rating: A=Excellent; B=Good; C=Fair; D=Weak; E=Very Weak
Data Source: SNL Financial Bank Regulatory Data

"Considering that many large banks also take other kinds of risks beyond strictly home mortgages,” Weiss commented, “these are very large exposures that could directly impact shareholders and even the safety of depositors.” Reflecting both their exposure to foreclosures and the other factors cited here, all four banks merit a rating of D (“Weak”) or lower, indicating vulnerability to financial difficulties and, if conditions continue to deteriorate, even failure.

On the positive side, some banks have been able to largely avoid or at least contain mortgage difficulties, as shown in Table 3.


Table 3.
Large U.S. Banks with Lowest Foreclosures as a % of Capital
(with total assets of $10 bill or and total real estate loans of $1 bill or more)

Institution (State

In Foreclosure and Past Due Mortgages as % of Tier 1 Capital

Weiss Financial Strength Rating

Deutsche Bank Trust Co. Americas (N.Y.)

1.2B
BNY Mellon, NA (Pa.)1.8B-
Signature Bank (N.Y.)1.8B
Commerce Bank, NA (Mo.)3.2B-
Rabobank, NA (Calif.)3.2C
Weiss Financial Strength Rating: A=Excellent; B=Good; C=Fair; D=Weak; E=Very Weak
Data Source: SNL Financial Bank Regulatory Data

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