The title of the regional bank New York Community Bancorp (NYCB), already very weakened, was suspended on the stock market on Wednesday after the
Wall Street Journal
revealed that the establishment was looking for investors to recapitalize it.
Before the suspension by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), which indicated that NYCB would communicate, the action plunged 42.24% to $1.86.
The stock has fallen by more than 80% since the publication of its annual results on January 31.
According to the financial daily, NYCB has mandated third-party banks to assess the possible appetite of investors for a capital increase.
Asked by AFP, the establishment did not respond immediately.
The lower the value of a company's stock, the more securities it must issue to raise a significant amount, which often makes a capital increase more difficult.
The bank has been battered since the end of January and the publication of an unexpected and substantial loss in the fourth quarter ($252 million), which gave rise to doubts about the financial health of the establishment.
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New regulatory constraints
The group based in Hicksville (New York State) particularly suffered from the deterioration of the commercial real estate sector to which it is very exposed.
It also struggled to digest the impact of new regulatory constraints, a result of the significant increase in the size of its assets.
The latter was caused by the takeover of Signature Bank, a brand swept away by the banking crisis of March 2023 in the United States, just like Silicon Valley Bank, Silvergate Bank and First Republic.
Founded 165 years ago in the New York district of Queens, New York Community Bancorp is today the 28th largest American bank by size of assets, valued by the American central bank (Fed) at $116 billion.
On Thursday, NYCB revealed that it had identified
“significant weaknesses in the company’s internal controls”
relating to lending.
The review of the bank's procedures highlighted
"ineffective supervision, risk assessment and monitoring"
, according to a document published by the American markets regulator, the SEC.
NYCB also announced the resignation of general manager Thomas Cangemi and his replacement by former executive chairman Alessandro DiNello.