WaMu holding company sues FDIC
The holding company for failed savings and loan Washington Mutual Inc, has sued the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. for billions of dollars in claims in connection with the September seizure and sale of the Seattle-based thrift to JPMorgan Chase & Co.
The complaint, filed March 20 with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, seeks to recover billions in tax refunds, capital contributions and trust securities in the wake of the regulators’ seizure and $1.9 billion sale of assets to JP Morgan Chase.
Press accounts estimate WaMu’s claim against the federal regulator at $13 billion.
The suit says that between December 2007 and April 2008, Washington Mutual raised approximately $10 billion in the capital markets. The suit says that the FDIC or the Office of Thrift Supervision may have induced WaMu to make capital contributions at a time when the agencies knew, or should have known, that the appointment of the FDIC for receivership of the bank was “imminent saving account payday loan.”
The Reuters news agency quoted an FDIC spokesman as saying the agency would not comment on the suit.
The holding company, WMI, is now operating under Chapter 11 protection. The case is Washington Mutual Inc v. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, No. 09-00533.
Washington Mutual is the third largest banking operation in the Portland area, with 67 branches.