Old is New Again: Independence vs. Independent Judgment

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thinking.jpgBankers are routinely inundated with “alerts” and “updates” from advisors setting forth current developments in the law as it applies to banks and their business.  As authors and recipients of such updates, we understand your pain, but also believe the information conveyed is critical to making informed decisions. However, every so often (now for instance), it’s important to reevaluate established practices and procedures to make sure we’re not forgetting something important.

As we approach year-end, it’s time to focus on compensation-related matters (yes, it’s that time of year already). In just a few weeks, many of us will be gathering in Chicago for Bank Director’s annual Bank Executive & Board Compensation Conference. No doubt, there will be much discussion surrounding the ever-increasing depth and breadth of laws, rules and regulations applicable to the banking industry generally and, in particular, compensation arrangements for directors and executives. But after a few years of focusing on the concept of risk, in all its glory, it’s likely there will be a fair amount of focus on independence this year. Over the summer, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced its rules under the Dodd-Frank Act relating to compensation committee independence and, within the last few weeks, the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ OMX issued their own rules on independence as required by the SEC.

Independence and Dodd-Frank

The concept of independence for compensation committees—which underlies Dodd-Frank Act §952—is not a new one. The specific Dodd-Frank Act rules might be new, and will require study and may result in changes to your existing practices and procedures, but the concept of independence is familiar and worth revisiting. The rules will require that compensation committee members be independent and have access to independent advisors. What is left unsaid is that the information garnered from those independent advisors should be the basis for—not the end of—independent thought by independent directors. Independent advisors are not a substitute for independent judgment.

Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX)

This year marks the 10-year anniversary of the SOX. It was enacted in response to the corporate and accounting scandals that came to light around 2002 (Enron, Tyco and WorldCom, just to note a few).  SOX focused on corporate responsibility and oversight of the accounting industry. At its root, however, were a few familiar ideas, that a public company have an audit committee, all members should be independent, should have access to independent advisors (auditors should be independent) and should exercise independent judgment.

Global Financial Crisis of 2008 & Risk Assessment

Six years after SOX, the world experienced the global financial crisis. One of the congressional reactions to this crisis was the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Act. The Dodd-Frank Act put the focus squarely on risk assessment of compensation plans. Bank regulators and the SEC reminded us that risk assessment in connection with compensation plans was not a new concept. Banks (and other entities) were directed to mitigate unreasonable risk in compensation programs wherever it was found. There was a focus on risk itself, risk mitigation, risk policies, claw-back of incentive compensation (incentive compensation that may have led to excessive risk-taking) and so on.

Lack of independence on the compensation committee was rightly perceived as a potential risk. To mandate the mitigation of this risk, the Dodd-Frank Act directed the SEC to enact rules, through the exchanges, that would require public companies to ensure their compensation committees are independent with uninhibited access to independent advisors to assist them in the discharge of their duties. Again, the rules may be new, but they are focused on a familiar concept—independence.

This brings us back to the alerts, updates, conferences, seminars and the seemingly infinite sources of industry information. All of the information you obtain, regardless of the source, is of no use unless it’s put to work in an independent decision-making process. Advisors will help to educate you, but it’s up to your board members to exercise independent judgment.

What Keeps Directors Up at Night

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worried.jpgDuring the S&L crisis of the late 80’s and early 90’s, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation sued or settled claims against bank officers and/or directors on nearly a quarter of the institutions that failed during that time. If the past is any indication of the future, then there is a significant risk that directors of failed banks from the recent financial crisis may see some type of action taken against them by the FDIC.

In addition to lawsuits against senior executives of IndyMac Bank, and also senior officers and directors of Heritage Community Bank in Illinois, the FDIC has authorized actions against more than 109* insiders at failed banks to recover over $2.5* billion in losses to the deposit insurance fund resulting from this wave of bank failures.

Based on their work with a number of banks as well as individuals who are the targets of recent FDIC cases in various stages of development, John Geiringer and Scott Porterfield from the Chicago-based law firm of Barack Ferrazzano answer some questions about what could be keeping bank directors up at night.

What are the steps taken by the FDIC after the closure of a bank?

The FDIC begins a preliminary investigation when it believes that a bank may fail and will interview bank employees, officers and directors promptly after the bank’s closure.It is common for the FDIC to send a demand letter to the bank’s officers and directors demanding payment, usually in the tens or hundreds of millions of dollars, shortly before the expiration date of the bank’s D&O insurance policy.The FDIC sends that letter in an apparent attempt to preserve the D&O insurance for any litigation claims that it may later assert.

The FDIC may then subpoena officers and directors for documents and depositions. After conducting depositions, the FDIC will decide whether to initiate litigation against any officer or director. If the agency decides to litigate, it will initiate settlement discussions before actually filing its lawsuit. Because of the many evolving issues in these situations, such as whether insiders may copy documents for defense purposes before their banks fail, potential targets of these actions should ensure that they are being advised by counsel through every step of this process, even before their banks have failed.

What are the legal standards by which the FDIC may sue directors?

The FDIC bases its lawsuits on general legal principles that govern director and officer conduct and also considers the cost effectiveness of any potential lawsuit when making its decision. Federal law allows the FDIC to sue directors and officers for gross negligence and even simple negligence in certain states. What those standards mean as they relate to the conduct of bank insiders during this unprecedented economic cycle is difficult to predict at this time, although we are getting a clearer picture.

In the Heritage case, for example, the FDIC alleges that the defendants did not sufficiently mitigate the risks in the Bank’s commercial real estate portfolio and made inappropriate decisions regarding dividend and incentive compensation payments.

Will the FDIC differentiate between inside and outside directors?

Whether someone is an inside or outside director is one of the factors that the FDIC considers in determining whether to sue a director of a failed bank. According to the FDIC’s Statement Concerning the Responsibilities of Bank Directors and Officers, the most common lawsuits likely to be brought against outside directors will probably involve insider abuse or situations in which directors failed to respond to warnings from regulators and bank advisors relating to significant problems that required corrective actions.

Will D&O insurance cover any liability to the FDIC?

That depends on the amount and terms of the D&O policy. Directors should work with their insurance broker and bank counsel to review their D&O policies and to help them to make this determination. They should determine whether their policy amount is sufficient, whether their policy has certain exclusions (such as regulatory and insured vs. insured exclusions), whether proper notices are being made and under what conditions their policy can be cancelled.

What can directors do to mitigate their risk in the event that their bank fails?

In its Policy Statement, the FDIC states that it will not bring civil suits against directors and officers who fulfill their responsibilities, including the duties of loyalty and care, and who make reasonable and fully informed business judgments after proper deliberation. The FDIC generally requires bank directors to: (i) maintain independence; (ii) keep informed; (iii) hire and supervise qualified management; and (iv) avoid preferential transactions.

Directors should ensure that their bank’s counsel and other advisors are discussing these crucial issues with them. If their bank is in troubled condition, directors should seriously consider the need to hire personal legal counsel and to understand their ability to obtain indemnification.

* Figures updated as of 1/4/11 based on latest reportings.