Saturday, April 12, 2014

DNA Info: Seaway Bank and Trust Co. in Chatham Is Not Being Sold, Officials Say

Photo via DNA Info

I'm really sorry I missed this article. In Febrary, Crain's Chicago Business published an article about losses at Seaway Bank & Trust Company as a result of their acquisitions of two banks. Then got translated into Seaway may be forced to sell at some point.

To be sure acquiring two banks taken over by the FDIC is change enough and then the death of longtime owner & chairman Jacoby Dickens may well inspire more changes at the black-owned financial insitution. All the same in this DNA Info article from last month an executive from the bank is seeking to reassure customers that the bank will not be sold and would remain Black-owned:
Officials with Seaway Bank, 645 E. 87th St., said customers should know that while it suffered financial losses of $4.4 million in 2013, there are no plans to close or sell the city's largest black-owned bank.

"Seaway is not for sale, nor has there been any discussion about selling the bank," said Walter Grady, president and CEO of Seaway. "I really hate that there is a perception that we are considering selling because of a bad year. Every business has a bad year eventually."
...
Seaway Bank's losses last year were due largely to its acquisition of a bank in west suburban Maywood and another bank in Milwaukee, Grady said.

In fact, Grady said not only is the bank not up for sale but it plans to expand by opening a new branch this year. He declined to give details about the new branch.

And Grady has one prediction about the bank's future.

"I am confident the bank will remain black-owned," he said. "We are committed to remaining black."
Also not to be a constant corrector, but there are two other Black-owned banks in the area. Unless anything has changed recently Highland Community Bank - located at 1701 W. 87th St - remains Black-owned even though over the years there have been attempts to purchase that bank at times by Seaway itself. Then also the former Community Bank of Lawndale then renamed Covenant Bank - located at 1111 S. Homan Ave - is now owned by New Orleans, Louisiana based Liberty Bank which is also Black-owned.

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