U.S. government seizes Washington Mutual

The U.S. government on Thursday made the largest bank seizure in American history, taking over Washington Mutual, the severely troubled savings and loan, and selling pieces of it to JPMorgan Chase in an emergency deal intended to avoid sticking the taxpayer with a bill for another bank, according to people briefed on the plan.

For weeks, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department had been nervous about the fate of WaMu, among the worst-hit by the housing crisis, and had pressed hard for the bank to sell itself. As panic gripped financial markets last week after the collapse of the investment bank Lehman Brothers, U.S. regulators stepped up their efforts, working behind the scenes, and at times going behind WaMu's back to work privately with potential bidders.

Indeed, the seizure and the deal with JPMorgan came as a shock to Washington Mutual's board, which was kept completely in the dark: the company's new chief executive, Alan Fishman, was flying from New York to Seattle at the time the deal was brokered, according to these people.
The shot-gun acquisition marks the second time since the housing crisis began that the government has pushed a troubled bank into the arms of JPMorgan Chase. In March, JPMorgan rescued Bear Stearns as it teetered into bankruptcy protection.

The deal will give JPMorgan branches in California and other markets where it does not have a footprint. But JPMorgan will also inherit a big loan portfolio of troubled mortgages and commercial real estate.

U.S. regulators had been trying to broker a deal for Washington Mutual because a takeover by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. would have dealt a crushing blow to the deposit insurance fund. The fund, which stood at $45.2 billion at the end of June, had been severely depleted after suffering a debilitating loss from the sudden collapse of IndyMac Bank. Analysts say that a failure of Washington Mutual would have cost the fund upwards of $20 billion to $30 billion.
The takeover of Washington Mutual is yet another black-eye for its primary federal regulator, the Office of Thrift Supervision. It also oversaw IndyMac Bank, another big lender that suddenly collapsed in mid-July, and several other deeply troubled savings banks. Washington Mutual was the largest institution under its watch.

Washington Mutual long insisted that it could remain independent, but the giant thrift had quietly hired Goldman Sachs early last week to identify potential bidders. Among the banks that expressed interest were Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, HSBC, Banco Santander, TD Bancorp and Wells Fargo. Each had different reasons for making an offer, but nobody could make the numbers work. Several deadlines past without anyone submitting bid.

Washington Mutual had struggled to find a partner earlier this year willing to inject fresh funds in its ailing business. This spring, it balked at an offer from JPMorgan to buy the entire company. Instead, TPG, the big private equity firm, led a group of investors that made a $5 billion capital injection in April.