Week In Review - by Mark Sievewright Posted by AVCU on 10:05 AM

2010 Bank Failures Reach 78 - Year-to-date bank failures rose to 78 last week with the closure of 5 institutions:

• Three banks owned by Bank of Florida Corporation were closed - Bank of Florida Southeast ($595 million); Bank of Florida Southwest ($640 million); Bank of Florida Tampa Bay ($245 million).
• Sun West Bank, Las Vegas, Nevada - $360 million.
• Granite Community Bank, Granite Bay, California - $102 million in assets.

Fifth Third Bank Splits Chairman and CEO Roles - Fifth Third Bancorp has split its chairman and chief executive roles after adding William Isaac, a former chairman of the FDIC, to its board as chairman, succeeding Kevin Kabat. Mr. Kabat will remain the bank's president and CEO.

Geithner Sees Consensus of Financial Reform - U.S. Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, said last week that the U.S. and Europe were in broad agreement on the need for stricter market regulation but stressed that they would take different paths when necessary. The G-20 nations are trying to reach a consensus on new rules to avoid "regulatory arbitrage" in which some banks or hedge funds move their activities to whatever location offers the least onerous regulation. The U.S. and several European countries have been at odds over Germany's plan to introduce a ban on naked short-selling of sovereign debt securities and financial shares.

Treasury Announces Sale of Citi Stock - The Treasury Department announced that it had begun to sell its stake in Citigroup and that the government was turning a profit on its investment. The Treasury sold 1.5 billion shares of Citigroup, or about a fifth of its holdings, at a profit of $1.3 billion. At that rate, the government stands to make about $6.6 billion on its entire investment in Citigroup. After last week's sale, the Treasury owns 22% of the company.

NCUA Approves New CU - The National Credit Union Administration last week approved its second new federal credit union charter of 2010 - Chippewa Eagle Federal Credit Union, located in Mount Pleasant, Michigan.

U.S. Consumer Spending Stagnant in April, Savings Rise - The Commerce Department announced last week that personal income rose by $54.4 billion, or 0.4%, in April. Spending increased $4 billion, and was essentially flat. In March, personal income increased 0.4% and spending 0.6%, based on revised estimates. Savings, on the other hand, grew 3.6% in April from 3.1% in March. Personal savings were $398.5 billion in April, compared with $342.7 billion in March.

1st Quarter Growth Revised Slightly Lower - The U.S. economy expanded at a slower rate in the first quarter than originally estimated, the Commerce Department reported Thursday, partly because of a slight decrease in the pace of consumer spending. The revised measure of the overall economy grew at an inflation-adjusted annual rate of 3% in the first quarter, down from the earlier estimate of 3.2%.