Financial Institutions...In The News

• Two anticipated new rules for mortgage lending may make mortgage loans harder to come by.  Cleveland Plain Dealer, 11/5/12
• Federal Reserve survey finds banks willing to lend, but not for mortgages.  Portland Press Herald, 10/31/12
• Swiss banks, suspected of being a haven for tax evasion, under pressure to reduce secrecy.   Sun Journal/Washington Post, 11/4/12
• Bank failures down in 2012.  Portland Press Herald, 10/28/12
• National foreclosure inventory remains stable, but completed foreclosures down from last year.  Real Estate Economy Watch, 10/31/12; NuWireInvestments.com, 11/5/12
• Cyber thieves steal $180,000 from Missouri company electronic bank account using a “virus-laden” email.  CIO.com, 11/8/12

Maine Financial Institutions...In the News

• Standard & Poor’s raises outlook for Maine from negative to stable. (Bangor Daily News, May 25, 2012).
• Moody’s drops Maine’s outlook from stable to negative.  (Kennebec Journal, May 18, 2012; Waterville Sentinel, May 19, 2012).
• Judicial foreclosure states have highest inventory rates.  Maine at 4.4%.  (Inman News, May 1, 2012).
• Residential foreclosure rates dropping nationally.  Maine among lowest in nation.  (Bangor Daily News, May 18, 2012).
• Border Trust purchased by Bar Harbor Bankshares. (Kennebec Journal, May 2, 2012).
• Northeast Bancorp issues public offering of 4.76 million shares.  (MaineBiz.com, May 3, 2012).
• Key Bank and Bath Savings offer programs to serve the “unbanked” in Maine.  (Kennebec Journal, May 13, 2012).
• Bill Williamson named new president of Bank of America, Maine.  (Portland Press Herald, May 15, 2012).

Maine Bureau of Financial Institutions issues 2012 Annual Report

Last week, the Maine Bureau of Financial Institutions released its 2012 Annual Report. The 48-page Report provides a snapshot of the Bureau's regulatory activities, the health of Maine financial institutions, consumer complaints, and application activities.

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Robosigning Scandal: Maine Supreme Court condemns practice, declines to impose more penalities

On December 6, 2011, Maine’s highest court ruled that GMAC would not be subject to contempt of court penalties for its role in a national robo-signing scandal for foreclosures. But the Court’s ruling did not excuse GMAC’s behavior.

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Bureau of Financial Institutions Report finds mortgage delinquencies down, foreclosures up

On October 18, 2011, the Maine Bureau of Financial Institutions released its quarterly report of mortgage lending in Maine.  According to the report, “seriously delinquent” mortgages involving state-chartered institutions were down since June, but foreclosures are going up.   There is a silver lining, however. The report also found that, of those loans in foreclosure, more were leaving the process prior to foreclosure than at any point since 2006 when the State began tracking this statistic.  Mortgage originations are also up 9% over the prior quarter.  This story was also reported in Maine Biz on October 19, 2011.