IndyMac Bank

A few years ago I was hired by IndyMac Bank as a Senior Business Analyst Consultant to find potential “breaks” throughout its computing system.

The priority recommendation from the internal team and I was to realign their data storage by moving two thousand data computers off an earthquake fault zone along with other efficiency recommendations.

The executive manager rejected these recommendations saying all she wanted was to cut time for borrowers to fill out mortgage applications, bypassing safeguards for rapid approval. I left the bank.

Recently I read that 100% of their mortgage loans were sub-prime and the bank was taken over by the FDIC.

I recall seeing on CSPAN in 2000 a financial bill sponsored by Senator Phil Graham which established an “Enron loophole” in the banking lending practices, deregulating safeguards for market stability and creating the bundling of sub-prime and prime loans for sale to other financial institutions.

President Clinton signed that bill setting the stage for the financial mortgage meltdown we have now. Senator McCain has stated that Phil Graham would have a prominent place in his cabinet. Phil Graham has a lot of experience. Can we survive the consequences of the experience he has demonstrated?


Lyle K'ang