FDIC Terminates Action Against HomeStreet Bank in Seattle

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has terminated an enforcement action against HomeStreet Bank in Seattle.

The $2.5 billion-asset bank had been operating under an agreement since May that required it to maintain a Tier 1 capital ratio of at least 9%, to continue to reduce its exposure to loans that regulators had flagged as substandard or doubtful, and to refrain from paying dividends without regulators' permission.

HomeStreet had a Tier 1 capital ratio of 10.77%, as of Sept. 30, while earnings for the quarter rose 40%, to $21.3 million, from a year earlier.

"We are deeply gratified by this acknowledgement on the part of our regulators of the bank's significant accomplishments, characterized by strong earnings and greatly improved credit quality," Mark Mason, HomeStreet's chief executive, said in a news release.

According to HomeStreet, the FDIC notified the bank on Thursday that the agency had terminated the agreement, which the company had entered into in March after regulators extinguished an earlier order that required HomeStreet to take a series of steps to remedy allegedly unsafe and unsound practices.

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