By John Poirier and Emily Chasan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Wall Street rumors in January that Countrywide Financial Corp CFC.N might seek bankruptcy protection were wrong, senior U.S. banking regulators said on Thursday.
Office of Thrift Supervision Director John Reich, asked if he believed that Wall Street jumped the gun on a potential Countrywide bankruptcy filing, said: "Yes."
OTS Deputy Director Scott Polakoff, also speaking at the Reuters Regulation Summit in Washington, said there was no formal enforcement action pending against the U.S. mortgage lender or against its holding company when Bank of America Corp (BAC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said last month it would buy Countrywide.
"There was nothing sufficiently formal in an enforcement action capacity to suggest there were financial problems of a crisis nature at that institution," Polakoff said.
Countrywide on January 8 brushed off such market speculation, while its shares fell dramatically on concern that the largest U.S. mortgage lender's problems would worsen.
The Calabasas, California-based company also said at the time that it had sufficient liquidity to operate.
Three days later Bank of America, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, announced it would buy Countrywide in an all-stock transaction now valued at about $4.5 billion.
Comptroller of the Currency John Dugan, whose agency regulates Bank of America, said at the summit on Wednesday that the proposed transaction is on track. Reich said: "It's in process." Continued...
© Thomson Reuters 2008. All rights reserved.
| Paper | Aug 20 - 21, 2008 | Manufacturing |
| Japan Investment | Jul 01 - 2, 2008 | Country Summits |
| Global Real Estate | Jun 23 - 25, 2008 | Real Estate |
| Consumer and Retail | Jun 16 - 18, 2008 | Consumer Retail |
| Investment Outlook | Jun 09 - 12, 2008 | Financial Services / Exchanges |
