FDIC Lifts Order Against North Community in Chicago

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has lifted a consent order against the recently recapitalized North Community Bank in Chicago.

The order, issued in January 2011 and amended in May 2013, required the $2.5 billion-asset North Community to strengthen its anti-money-laundering practices and maintain a minimum 9% Tier 1 capital ratio and 12% total risk-based capital ratio. The bank was also ordered to improve board oversight, revise its expense policy and hire a consultant to review expenses and reimbursements paid to employees, shareholders and others.

The lifting of the order "represents a true new beginning on our path to profitability, strength and growth," North Community Chief Executive Alberto Paracchini said in an email to employees. "Our work over the past six months has successfully addressed the legacy orders, and we are now better positioned to compete for new business."

North Community’s holding company, Metropolitan Bank Group, completed a $207 million recapitalization in June backed by a group of Mexican investors. The investors, led by former Banco Popular (BPOP) executive Roberto Herencia, also agreed to pay $26 million for the $78 million in preferred shares that company issued to the Treasury Department in 2009 under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Metropolitan Bank Group continues to operate under an April 2013 cease-and-desist order issued by the Federal Reserve. The order requires the company to develop a capital plan and review its compensation and expense policies and procedures.