Studies predict which banks are likely to skip dividend payments on TAPR aid – News

Studies predict which banks are likely to skip dividend payments on TAPR aid – News

Earlier this month, BailoutSleuth reported on eight TARP recipients that were in imminent risk of missing their sixth dividend payments – the crucial threshold that, once crossed, allows the Treasury Department to appoint two members to a bank’s board of directors.

Only one bank, Saigon National Bank, had previously missed six dividend payments.

Now, one of those banks on BailoutSleuth’s list appears to have crossed that threshold too: embattled OneUnited Bank, which is at the center of the controversy surrounding Rep. Maxine Water (D-Calif.), who is accused of using her political influence to help the bank secure money through the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

As a condition of receiving aid through TARP’s Capital Purchase Program, banks were required to pay a 5 percent annual dividend, in quarterly installments, on the dollar amount of the cash they received. After five years, the rate increased to 9 percent.

The Boston Herald and the Boston Globe both reported that the bank was expected to miss its sixth dividend payment, which was due Monday. What that would mean is not entirely clear, as Treasury has not yet moved to appoint board members to Saigon.

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