#162 Summer 2010 — Public Housing Privatization

Why Was ShoreBank Allowed to Fail?

In August, when the FDIC seized ShoreBank of Chicago, it represented the demise of the oldest community development bank in the United States. The bank, according to its Web site, […]

In August, when the FDIC seized ShoreBank of Chicago, it represented the demise of the oldest community development bank in the United States. The bank, according to its Web site, will carry on as the Urban Partnership Bank, which absorbed ShoreBank’s core deposits and its assets that were in receivership.

But some are asking why this bank, renown for socially responsible lending and caught up “in a crisis not of its own making,” according to The American Prospect‘s Robert Kuttner, does not qualify for TARP money. ShoreBank raised $150 million in new capital from many of the TARP-saved institutions, but still the Treasury Department did not yield the $75 million the bank sought. Kuttner says it’s political, preventing the appearance of helping a bank in the president’s old neighborhood.

Or was it just not big enough to not fail? Unfortunately, we’re only left to speculate.

OTHER ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE

  • An orange tinted bridge over water in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

    A Battle for Wards in New Jersey’s Hub City

    October 17, 2010

    How an organization of residents crossing age, race, and socioeconomic lines took on an unyielding City Hall known for quelling grass-roots efforts and (almost) overtook the political party machinery.

  • A worker at Evergreen Cooperative Laundry, which recently secured new contracts for 3 million pounds of health care linens.

    Green Jobs with Roots

    October 17, 2010

    For the founders of Cleveland's Evergreen Coops, putting a handful of people to work at minimum wage isn't worth it. They are aiming at nothing less than a ground-up economic transformation -- one owned by the very people it's intended to help.

  • Taking Foreclosures to Task

    October 17, 2010

    All across the country, local governments, CDCs, community groups, and housing counselors are coming together to address the foreclosure crisis.