I don't buy it.

The explanation why Crown Point National Bank wasn't approved.

Oh, I'm sure FDIC turned them down, but I suspect it was because they didn't raise enough money. Or, perhaps, what would have been enough money in normal times and in a normal location didn't seem sufficient to the FDIC. And it's hard to argue with that logic.

A couple of telling quotes from this morning's Bulletin; "...the bank doesn't have enough operating funds to wait out the recession, noting that by the time the economy improves, a new application will likely be necessary."

Also: "The delays have taken a toll on our seed money and it's unfortunate if the word was going to be 'non' that it came this late in the process."

And finally, "Crown Point organizers had hoped to raise $30 million to $40 million in capital before opening. Gerlicher wouldn't say how much the bank did raise, but said it was not a factor in the FDIC's decision.

Hummmmmm....

So all we know for sure is that they started with four million. For that, they had four employees and had renovated a 'leased' downtown bank building. (I'd assumed they bought it....) That plus legal fees.....sounds like they were using up the original money.

Just guessing here. But they sure weren't trumpeting how much money they raised. Such as "We hoped to raise $30 to $40 million and we passed that....or.....we came awfully close."

Nope. It was no comment.

Actually, what I'm saying here doesn't directly contradict the comments on the article -- except in emphasis. The article emphasizes the 'local conditions' and the bureaucratic wranglings, and I suspect the underlying reason is -- there just isn't enough money to pull it off.