Now down to 3.25% APY.

Now down to 2.85%.

New info from WSJ

OTS Let IndyMac Backdate Infusion

By JESSICA HOLZER

WASHINGTON -- The Treasury Department's inspector general is probing the Office of Thrift Supervision for permitting a backdated capital infusion into IndyMac Bancorp a few months before its collapse in July.

The infusion allowed the bank to be classified as "well capitalized," instead of "adequately capitalized," at the end of the first quarter. That let IndyMac avoid having to take certain steps with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

West Region Director Darrel Dochow, was removed from his current duties in connection with the inquiry, according to letters released Monday by the office of Sen. Charles Grassley (R., Iowa). An OTS spokesman said Mr. Dochow wasn't available for comment.

In a letter to Sen. Grassley, Treasury Inspector General Eric M. Thorson said the probe would examine why Mr. Dochow allowed IndyMac to record $18 million in capital as received from its holding company before March 31, 2008, even though the injection occurred after that date.

In a letter to Mr. Thorson released by Sen. Grassley's office, OTS Director John M. Reich suggested the $18 million capital injection occurred May 9. However, in his letter to Sen. Grassley, Mr. Thorson cited conflicting evidence about whether the contribution occurred in April or May.

"The circumstances and accounting of this transaction as described by OTS are unclear, and the documentation provided by OTS was ambiguous and incomplete," Mr. Thorson wrote to Sen. Grassley.
Mr. Thorson also noted that the OTS has allowed other thrifts to record capital infusions in a different quarter than when they were received.

Without the backdated capital contribution, IndyMac's risk-based capital ratio would have fallen below the 10% threshold for "well capitalized" banks to 9.98% as of March 31, partly as a result of changes proposed by its auditor, Ernst & Young.
The change in designation from well-capitalized to "adequately capitalized" would have required IndyMac to get special permission from the FDIC to offer brokered deposits. Such deposits offer higher yields to consumers, but pose a greater risk to the FDIC's deposit-insurance fund. The FDIC has estimated IndyMac's failure will cost its deposit insurance fund $8.9 billion.

In his letter to Sen. Grassley, Mr. Thorson wrote that he believes the backdated capital contribution "is a relatively small factor in the events leading to the failure of IndyMac." But he added that his office "must take certain actions to ensure that OTS remains a well managed regulatory agency."

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson requested the inquiry after the backdated capital infusion came to light during a standard review of IndyMac and the causes of its failure by the inspector general.

In a statement, Sen. Grassley, whose office released the letters from Messrs. Thorson and Reich, criticized the OTS and raised questions about the implication for the financial condition of other thrifts that the agency may have also permitted to backdate capital infusions.

"The role of the Office of Thrift Supervision, as the name says, is to supervise these banks, not conspire with them," he said.

Write to Jessica Holzer at jessica.holzer@dowjones.com

Down again to 2.70% APY!

Now it is down to 2.25%, unbelievable.

bongoking said: that's where their script got funny
"we are one of the safest big bank" but they are the ones that got eaten by fdic not too long ago...
If you notice, the real name is IndyMac Federal Bank, owned and run by the government. Safe enough for you?

edit typo

IndyMac Federal Bank is now OneWest Bank

Customer FAQ

If you have accounts which were transferred from IndyMac Federal Bank to OneWest Bank, be sure to check your local paper for a legal notice telling you to contact OneWest to make sure your account remains active.

Edit: I couldn't find a link to the Notice, so here's the gist (LA Times, Thursday May 28, 2009, Page B7)

"The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation … arranged for the transfer of the deposits at [IndyMac] to … OneWest Bank, FSB, Pasadena, CA 91101. … You may leave your deposits in [OneWest], but you must take action to claim ownership of your deposits….

You may claim your deposits at [OneWest] by taking any of the following actions within 18 months of the Closing Date (March 19, 2009). If you have more than one account, your action in claiming your deposit in one account will automatically claim your deposit in all of your accounts.

1. Making a deposit to or withdrawal from your account(s). This includes writing a check on any account or having an automated direct deposit credit to or an automated withdrawal debited from any account;
2. Executing a new signature card on your account(s), enter into a new deposit agreement with [OneWest], changing the ownership on your account(s), or renegotiating the terms of your certificate of deposit account;
3. Providing [OneWest] with a completed change of address form; or
4. Writing to [OneWest] and notifying them that you wish to keep your accounts active. Please be sure to include the name(s) of the account(s), the account number(s), and the signature of an authorized signer on the account(s), name and address.

You should know that bank drafts issued by [IndyMac], including official checks, cashier’s checks, money orders, dividend checks, interest checks, and expense checks, are all considered deposits and must be claimed within 18 months from [March 19, 2009]."