FDIC is the Top Choice for Loan Portfolios

WASHINGTON, DC-As more loan portfolios make their way to the FederalDeposit Insurance Corp., the agency is finding more innovative ways to work with the private sector. This is good news for companies, as they are increasingly finding that the FDIC has become the best game in town for loan portfolios.

As the FDIC continues to come into control of an increasingly largevolume of loans through bank takeovers it must draw on the resourcesof the private sector to maximize value on those loans, says ThomasGalli, shareholder at Greenberg Traurig LLP, who headed a panel atWashington, DC’s recently-held RealShare conference, consisting of Rich Brown, the FDIC’s chief economist, and Tim Kruse, senior capitalmarkets specialist at the FDIC. “As a significant bid/ask spreadcontinues to exist on pricing for loan portfolios in the privatesector, the FDIC appears to be the only practical opportunity in thecurrent market for the private sector to acquire loan portfolios,” hetells GlobeSt.com.

The volume of loan portfolios the FDIC will bring to market in 2010through its structured transaction program will be significantlygreater than what it brought to market in 2009, Galli says. That means opportunities for investors in this space will be extraordinary over the next two years.