Strapped Florida Banks Ask for Help
Hobbled by Real-Estate Bust and Oil Spill’s Fallout, Lenders Seek Reprieve From Capital Raising

Wall Street Journal
BY DAN FITZPATRICK

Florida banks—already weakened by the real-estate bust and hit again by customers suffering from the BP PLC oil spill—are asking federal regulators for a reprieve from government-ordered capital raising as they struggle to stay alive.

In a Monday letter to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Florida’s top banking lobbyist requested all local banks be granted a 12-month break from higher capital requirements, loan appraisals and new regulatory sanctions.

Unless we work together in giving our banks more time to work through this oil crisis," more financial institutions will go under, wrote Florida ...