Audio By Carbonatix
Fort Lauderdale-based BankAtlantic is, like most big banks, getting crushed by home loans that aren’t paying — the dreaded “toxic assets.” But unlike the biggest banks in the nation, BankAtlantic is not celebrating a second-quarter profit. Rather, it’s trying to cheer the loss of slightly less than it lost in the first quarter — from $46.6 million to $38.4 million.
The South Florida Business Journal has posted a detailed article about the bank’s predicament. Apparently, the bank decided to take advantage of an opportunity to defer interest payments as a way of preserving capital but in so doing disqualified itself from receiving TARP funds. As for whether that was a sound strategy, I don’t have a clue. Let’s hope BankAtlantic executives do.
