By Becky Yerak | Bridgeview Bancorp Inc., which in December 2008 became one of the first privately-held banks in the Chicago area to receive a capital infusion from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Troubled Asset Relief Program, missed its dividend payment in the latest quarter.
Bridgeview Bancorp, whose Bridgeview Bank unit has $1.54 billion in assets and 15 branches around the Chicago area, received $38 million from the Treasury, which in turn took preferred stock in the bank.
Based on banks’ track records of paying dividends, the banking industry could be in worsening shape, a new study shows.
Nearly 100 U.S. banks failed to make TARP dividend payments in May, up from 80 in February and 55 in November 2009, according to investment banking firm Keefe Bruyette Woods.
Of the banks that missed TARP dividend payments in May, 25 were new to the list, and one of them was Bridgeview, KBW said in its report.
Bridgeview couldn’t be reached for immediate comment. It made $1.1 million in the first quarter, up from $807,000 in the year-ago quarter, and it remains well capitalized. But its level of seriously delinquent loans jumped from 3.7 percent to 9.7 percent.
According to the bank’s Web site, its Uptown office was the site of some of the filming of Public Enemies, a 2009 movie with Johnny Depp.
Treasury recently lost about $85 million through the failure of Midwest Bank, which was owned by Melrose Park-based Midwest Banc Holdings and was one of the first mid-sized banks to get TARP.
“The failure of the bank to adequately recapitalize means that following receivership, it is unlikely that Treasury will receive any significant recovery,” Treasury said of Midwest in a recent report.
