Sent: Tuesday, October 11, 2011 4:22PM

To: Ileana C. Portal

Subject: questions from ProPublica

 Ileana,

 I hope you are well. Below
are the questions I mentioned I’d send. I’m going to need answers by the end of
the day on Thursday.

 Thanks!

 Best,

 Jake Bernstein

 

 

Did any U.S Century director or
bank official ask any member of Congress or their staff to help with the TARP
loan? If so, who?

 Did any U.S. Century
director or bank official ask any third party to lobby on the bank’s behalf to
secure the TARP money? If so, who?

 Were there any stipulations
the bank needed to fulfill before receiving the TARP loan?

 Why did the bank’s profits
and other financials decline so steeply in the quarter(s) immediately after
receiving the TARP money?

 Was U.S. Century not
properly recognizing problem loans prior to August 2009? If
so, why not?

 When the bank received the
TARP money, U.S. Century had higher nonperforming and delinquent loans than
peers, higher insider lending than peers, less set aside for loan losses than
peers and high concentrations in construction and commercial real estate loans.
Given those conditions wasn’t the bank ailing when it received TARP money? If
not, why not?

 What is the amount of
insider loans that have been declared nonperforming or delinquent?

 The deadlines from the
consent order have passed. What steps has the bank taken to fulfill the
obligations laid out in the consent order?

 According to the consent
order, the bank must increase its total capital by about $57 million. How close
are you to that goal?

 Was there an MOU between the
bank and the FDIC prior to the consent order? If so, when was it signed?

Environmentalists accuse the bank
of financing urban sprawl and in the process endangering the Everglades. Do you
agree with this assessment? If not, why not?

Do you think the bank’s rise and
fall exemplifies the fast-and-loose banking culture that led to the financial
crisis? If not, why not?

Do you think U.S. Century was used
as a corporate ATM for its directors and their associates and family members?
If not, why not?