NetBank's Failure Is Proof That Ratings Matter

No depositor ever wants to be in the position of hoping to get money back after a bank failure.

In the case of NetBank (formerly a unit of NetBank (NTBK) Inc.), TheStreet.com's financial strength ratings provided five years of warnings, with ratings of D (weak financial strength) or below. NetBank's rating was downgraded to D- in December 2006, E (very weak) in March 2007 and finally E- in June 2007.

After NetBank's deal to be acquired by EverBank fell through, the Office of Thrift Supervision closed down NetBank on Friday, and named the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. as receiver. The FDIC then issued a statement saying that NetBank's insured deposits had been acquired by ING Bank, FSB (a unit of ING Group (ING).

ING Bank did not acquire NetBank's $109 million in deposit accounts that exceeded FDIC insurance limits. Customers with uninsured deposits will receive immediate payment of 50% of their uninsured balances. These customers will become creditors to the receivership for the remaining 50%. This means that $54.5 million in deposits may never be recovered by these customers.

Quarterly Ratings

TheStreet.com publishes Financial Strength Ratings for every U.S. bank and thrift on a quarterly basis. These are not bank holding company stock ratings, but rather safety and soundness ratings for the institutions themselves. You can look up the ratings using the Ratings Screener.