National City

By Tony, Bank Implode

National City Corp. was delivered from purgatory to the hell that is bankruptcy cloaked as a merger with PNC. The road to hell for National City Corp. was paved with subprime missteps with good intentions planted at the roadside. In business since 1845 National City Corp. rode the wave of the credit bubble to become the 11th largest bank by deposits in the US. But the bubble burst in the summer of 2007 and in the shock wave national city has lost more than $3 billion taken another billion dollars in write-downs and level 3 assets swelled to over $3 billion. The bank’s market cap is a fraction of what it once was in its share price has fallen nearly 90% this year.

National City, once among the nation’s top 10 subprime lenders, joins Washington Mutual nc. and Wachovia Corp. in submitting to takeovers after losses tied to failed home loans.  Cleveland-based National City lost more than $3 billion during the past five quarters, and its stock plunged 87 percent this year. PNC is still profitable.

For National City Corp. the end began in 1999 when it bought subprime specialist first Franklin from Bank of America. Read more….