Today in Everything Sucks: How Many Chicago Banks Will Fail?

How's everyone enjoying those gaping holes where all those WaMu outlets used to be? Nothing like a good vacant storefront where once a financial outpost used to operate, right? Guess what - this may seem obvious, but one lending official says it's possible that anywhere from 25-30 other banks around town might go under pretty soon.

While the rest of us are busy figuring out what to do with all those WaMus, The Tribune is reporting that while Mitchell Feiger of MB Financial didn't identify any banks by name that might be going under, things are certainly unpretty for Chicago's banking community.

"The pace of bank failures is going increase, and, in fact, I think it's going to be very high," Feiger said during a Monday conference call. "Say if 10 percent of banks in the country fail, which I think is a very possible number, and proportionally 10 percent of the banks in the Chicago area fail, which I think is a very possible number, then 25 to 30 banks in the Chicago area will fail," he said. "There will be more opportunities like this one."

The opportunity he's talking about are the assets MB Financial acquired from Heritage Community Bank, which was just shut down by regulators. In addition to that ever-so-rosy outlook, TCF Bank and Northern Trust are planning on returning TARP funds in the face of ever-changing requirements and regulations from Federal authorities. Northern Trust is doing so in the face of those Sheryl Crow concert reports, but at least TCF seems okay:

"Public perception views banks that took TARP money as having done so out of weakness," TCF CEO William Cooper said. TCF has sufficient capital without TARP money, he said.

So at least all those banks in Jewel will be okay, right? Those of us with our cash at Chase are feeling all right for now, but we're getting more well versed with the capacity of our mattresses, just in case. Pass the soup.

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