On Dec. 18, Wheatland became the subject of a consent order with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. The regulators ordered the $437.2 million-asset lender to boost its capital levels by the end of May.
Nearly $170 million of its $400 million in loans were seriously
delinquent as of year end.
The bank’s total equity capital was negative $6 million as of year end.
Capital helps cushion banks against losses. It includes stockholders’
equity in the institution.
Matthew Anderson, partner with bank-data tracker Foresight Analytics LLC
in Oakland, Calif., said when a bank reaches negative capital levels
its future looks grim.
Many banks that have reached negative capital levels in recent quarters
have been shut by regulators, he said.
The bank couldn’t be reached for immediate comment Friday morning.
Wheatland lost $41.4 million in 2009.
The bank has one branch on West 95th Street. Besides raising capital,
it’s also forbidden from paying cash dividends and from growing its
assets by more than 3 percent a quarter without regulatory approval.
Wheatland sought a permit to organize in 2006 and got its charter in
January 2007 and its federal deposit insurance in February 2007.
