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Article: What Abacus Could Have Done To Soothe Customers' Worries.
- Article from:
- American Banker
- Article date:
- May 9, 2003
- Author:
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Recently hundreds of ethnic Chinese depositors rushed to withdraw their money from Abacus Federal Savings Bank in New York's Chinatown and from its branch in Philadelphia, sparked by fears of the thrift's insolvency.
This is deja vu, because 17 years ago, as a lawyer in private practice, I represented a client that was acquiring what was then the largest minority bank in the United States -- and was also failing. Together with the Office of Thrift Supervision (then the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, and its sister agency, the FSLIC), we successfully prevented a similar run on the bank in San Francisco's Chinatown and elsewhere in California.
At Abacus, ...