What was Benj. Franklin Federal Savings and Loan Association?
Founded in 1925 in Portland, Oregon, Benj. Franklin was a large, successful and widely respected thrift when it was seized by the federal government in 1990. 2. Who brought the case? Shareholders of Benj. Franklin brought this suit on September 14, 1990, in the United States Court of Federal Claims with the help of Don S. Willner, a prominent and well respected Portland, Oregon, attorney, on behalf of an estimated 6,500 shareholders. Court 3. What was the condition of the thrift industry in 1982? Interest rates were over 15% at a time when the thrift industry was invested in long-term mortgages charging about 8%. The entire industry was on the verge of bankruptcy, as was the FDIC, the government agency that insured the thrifts to protect the depositors. 4. What was the governments response to this crisis? It encouraged healthy thrifts to acquire failing thrifts with various government incentives, including treating the minus net worth of the failing thrift as the capital asset of goodw