US Century Bank represents the hubris of the housing boom and crash; wealth through land speculation, converting farmland and open space to suburban sprawl, and replacing wetlands with subdivisions. That, in a nutshell, is US Century Bank. Although US Century had plenty of company among the gears and cogs tying up to the Wall Street profit machine, its stands out for a board of directors including Jose Cancela and Rodney Barreto whose lobbying work at County Hall is modeled after the bank founder, Sergio Pino who turned a plumbing supply business into political influence at Miami International Airport, then parlayed a fortune into US Century Homes, and a prominent political role in the ascendency of Gov. Jeb Bush and President George W. Bush. His showroom on Le Jeune Avenue near MIA was once Bush Campaign Headquarters. It is now a weekend flea market.
Altogether the Wall Street profit machine needed a thousand places like Miami-Dade to drive the US economy off a cliff with its trillions of unregulated financial instruments tied to derivatives fabricated from housing and related development. But Miami-Dade was very special, and US Century Bank a special place in the constellation.
US Century Bank stands out because its founders, GOP consiglieres like Barreto and political insiders including bank chairman Ramon Rasco, long ago had the Miami-Dade County Commission "wired" for zoning approvals and the rubber-stamped growth-at-any-cost. Rasco was the principal organizer of Homestead Air Force Base Developers, Inc., or, HABDI and the no-bid deal to convert the air base into a private commercial airport; a deal that crashed and burned in 2002 -- although its litigation lingered on-- and one of the greatest boondoggles in Miami history. Natacha Seijas, the county commissioner who was ringleader of the HABDI plan on the inside, is now subject to a second recall effort by voters who likely have no idea of her role as top facilitator.
In the past year, US Century Bank fell to "troubled" status according to Bauer Financial. Although Bauer rates the bank as "well-capitalized", the bank likely includes $50 million from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or, TARP, in its Tier 1 capital.
Where US Century really stands out, though, from in the Bauer Financial universe is the category of loans to insiders. As a percentage of total loans, US Century loans in this category is 44 times greater than its peer group, as of Sept. 30, 2010. As a percentage of bank net work, loans to insiders is 80 times greater than its peer group.
In November 2009, Miami New Times reported, " ...The bank's chief credit officer, William Garzozi, says U.S. Century adheres to strict federal banking rules. Directors, he says, are offered the same rates and terms as regular banking customers. “And there is a limit as to how much you can lend,” Garzozi says. “We are nowhere near our limit.” Asked if any of the insider loans are behind or in trouble, Garzozi replies, “No, not at all.” In 2009, the bank lost $44 million.
As of Sept 30, 2010, Bauer offers the following statistics:
US Century Bank represents the business model of land speculation in farmland outside the Urban Development Boundary. Drive out to the edge of Krome Avenue on a quiet Sunday: see what the end of the housing boom looks like. It includes bank branches of US Century, waiting for the next tranche of sprawl to glide through the permitting mills. It is a forlorn part of the world and didn't need to be that way. US Century Bank got what it wanted, and so did the Miami Dade County Commission in the ragged edge of ghost suburbs, a tidal wave of foreclosures, and no accountability. None at all.
2 comments:
I sure hope that the bank and all its criminals go broke and are taken over.
The song is long over, but the record keeps skipping...
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