Marketplace Scratch Pad

What’s in a name?

Paddy Hirsch Mar 20, 2009

Back in July we had a good old fashioned run on a bank here in California, complete with lines of panicky depositors around the block. The bank? IndyMac, which was dragged down by overexposure to dodgy mortgages, and was taken over by the FDIC. But today, the Mac is back, under the name OneWest Bank. Cost to the taxpayer FDIC? A cool $10.7 billion, according to The Los Angeles Times, which reports the new bank will do business the old way. Sort of.

The company hoped to double in size over the next five years by acquiring other banks and opening new branches. It plans to specialize in so-called jumbo loans, those tailored to the expensive Southern Calfornia market and exceeding the federal loan guarantee limits. Unlike the old IndyMac Bank, OneWest intends to hold most of its loans rather than selling them to other banks or investors.

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