There’s been a shake-up on the Virginia National Bank board, Hawes Spencer wrote for The Hook last week. Mark Giles, the chairman and founding president of the local bank, quit the board effective immediately on December 19, along with Claire Gargalli and Leslie Disharoon; UVA neurosurgeon Neal Kassell left a couple of days later. Spencer writes that the initial three resignations resulted from “a disagreement over the composition of its board of directors,” though nothing specific is public yet. Though it may be unrelated, it cannot go without note that board members Hunter Craig and Wick McNeely appear to be in serious financial trouble as a result of their investments in the failed Biscuit Run housing development. To the extent to which their personal financial wellbeing is tied up in VNB stock, their short-term interests for the bank may deviate from other members’.
Giles’ departure from the board is particularly notable. More than any other individual, Giles has been the face of VNB.
If the public is left to speculate, it may mean a run on the bank and a drop in stock value.
I can’t see why there’d be a run on an FDIC-insured bank.
Waldo, Your money is only insured to a certain amount, anything over that is uninsured.
I think integrity counts when you are trying to build a brand, especially a local brand, and this bank, with it’s close ties to Craig and his lawsuit of Virginia citizens, no longer is a worthy cause to support. I think many left bigger banks to do just that, lend local support, and he has been a huge disappointment to many.
The FDIC insures each checking account up to $250,000. I’m pretty sure that this limit isn’t going to be a problem for me, anybody I know or, really, any VNB customer. The sort of people with $250,000 in savings don’t tend to stash it all in a single bank account. :)
Have you ever tried to file a claim with the FDIC? Or petitioned the Comptroller of the Currency for action? I have. Good luck with that!
I had a Senior Vice President @ BofA (now with VNB) help a former business partner empty my accounts despite having no authority to do so. The FDIC only intervenes if the bank reaches insolvency, not if you suffer an individual loss, even if brought on by a bank officer’s intentional wrongdoing.
10 years of litigation ensued.
If your bank has officers/board members who might have a reason to help themselves to your $$ you should be shopping for a new bank. Or better yet, a credit union.
Unless going years without access to that money wouldn’t be a problem.
Interesting, there has been no effort by VNB to launch a campaign to assure the public that this is a solid operation, that means to me – time for a quick exit.
You would be surprised at how many folks keep $250K in savings/checking accounts. When I worked Banking, one of the frequent requests was how to arrange accounts so folks would be covered at the $100K FDIC limit. Most wanted to reduce their accounts to the $100k limit. The limit was only recently raised to $250K.
Er, sure, but I don’t think anybody’s proposing that. We’re talking about a run on a bank leading to insolvency, which is precisely the circumstance under which the FDIC swoops in, takes over the bank lock, stock, and barrel, and assures that there is zero downtime and total access to money at all times.
That’s why I wrote that “[t]he sort of people with $250,000 in savings don’t tend to stash it all in a single bank account”—they have the good sense to spread it out between accounts. :)
I should disclose that my checking account is with Virginia National Bank. I don’t own any stock, I don’t have any loans with them, and if I have any other financial ties to them, I can’t think of them.
In regard to VNB’s backroom dealings and lack of disclosure, **** has valid points. If there’s a run on the bank, the FDIC ‘may swoop in’, although that’s symptomatic of Trust in the System. But bank officers’ wrongdoing is not even remotely that difficult to conceive of.