“Venture bank fails”
“SALE: First-Citizens takes over institution all money safe”

“Regulators seized DuPont-based Venture Bank on Friday night [Sept. 11] and turned its assets over to Raleigh, N.C.-based First-Citizens Bank and Trust Co. ending a 30-year history as a South Sound community bank.”
SEE FULL STORY IN TODAY’S OLYMPIAN .

NOTICE ISSUED BY THE FDIC:
“Failed Bank Information”
“Information for Venture Bank, Lacey, WA”

PUGET SOUND BUSINESS JOURNAL SAID THIS March 27, 2009:
“Venture was warned by the FDIC last November that it was undercapitalized and was told to submit a plan to correct that status within 45 days.

The bank submitted a plan to regulators at the end of December, but the FDIC called the plan unacceptable, according to the regulatory order made public Friday.

Venture also ran into trouble when it reported at the end of December in its regular condition report to regulators that it was adequately capitalized. The FDIC and the Washington Department of Financial Institutions, the state regulator, disagreed, calling the bank undercapitalized due to significant concerns regarding the reliability of the banks financial statements, according to the regulatory order.”

FDIC ISSUES LETTER TO VENTURE BANK LAST FEBRUARY,
“In a letter dated Feb. 13 but disclosed on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s Web site Friday [March 29], the FDIC notified the bank that it has 60 days to raise more money, find a buyer or find a merger partner. The 60-day period ends April 14. Among the FDIC’s concerns were that:

The bank’s condition continues to deteriorate.

The bank’s management has not demonstrated the ability to return the bank to a safe and sound condition…

Mike Edwards, a former Federal Reserve adviser and founder of Thurston First Bank, took issue with the FDIC’s approach to dealing with Venture.

‘I’m disappointed to see the regulators have announced their concerns with the bank in a public fashion, dragging it through a prolonged public view,’ he said, quoting The Olympian.

Ed. Note: I always took issue with the kind of attitude to which Mr. Edwards speaks. I am for full public-disclosure on banking problems, no matter how uncomfortable those might be. The public and Venture’s customers had a right to know all of the information back then. Now, another Washington-based bank is on the scrap heap as the 92nd bank failure this year.
The FDIC said on February 13, 2009, “The bank’s management has not demonstrated the ability to return the bank to a safe and sound condition.”

Mr. Edwards is currently Board member & Past President of the Thurston County Economic Development Council (EDC) and Board member of Thurston First Bank, having “served as the Supervisor of Banking for the State of Washington and as an advisor (sic) to Chairman Alan Greenspan and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington, D.C.,” quoting the Thurston First Bank’s website.

According to Venture Bank’s website, Larry Schorno “joined the Venture Bank Board of Directors in 1997 and the Venture Financial Group Board of Directors in 2002…. Mr. Schorno is currently a trustee of Washington State University and was named Yelm Citizen of the year for 2002 and 2004” and “has been active in the Thurston County Economic Development Council, the Association of Washington Business and was a recipient of the Washington State Governors Export Award.”