Irwin Financial Won't Meet Capital Requirements

COLUMBUS, Ind. (TheStreet) -- Irwin Financial (IFC) says there's "no realistic prospect" of meeting capital and liquidity requirements set by regulators in a cease-and-desist order on Tuesday.

The Columbus, Ind.-based lender also said regulators disagreed with the way it recognized certain loan losses in its financial results, demanding that subsidiary Irwin Union Bank and Trust amend its second-quarter regulatory filing. Irwin Financial shares dropped 44% to 50 cents.

Irwin Financial said it had "negative $42 million in shareholders' equity" in the second quarter, when it reported its 10th straight loss. The company had $3.4 billion in total assets as of June 30.

Irwin Union Bank and Trust and fellow subsidiary, Irwin Union Bank FSB, were adequately capitalized as of June 30. However, the second-quarter restatement might cause Irwin Union Bank and Trust's capital to fall short of regulatory minimums. Its total risk-based capital ratio was 8.25% in its second-quarter filing, only slightly higher than the 8% requirement to be considered adequately capitalized.

Similar expressions of doubt preceded the recent failures of Corus Bankshares(CORS) and Colonial Bank.

-- Reported by Philip van Doorn in Jupiter Fla.

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