Alexi Giannoulias ran for Illinois State Treasurer on his experience as vice president and senior loan officer at Chicago’s Broadway Bank. The family-owned bank was in the news recently for loaning money to know mobsters. Today the feds seized the troubled bank.
Alexi Giannoulias was endorsed by Barack Obama.
Chicago Breaking News reported:
Broadway Bank, the family-run lender that helped launch U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias’ political career, was one of seven Chicago-area institutions seized by the U.S. government Friday and sold to healthier companies.
The failure of Broadway, which was unable to raise the $85 million it needed to remain independent, will cost the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. $394.3 million.
Giannoulias worked for his father at Chicago-based Broadway before entering politics, and the bank’s struggles in recent years with real estate loans gone bad have weighed on Giannoulias’ Democratic bid for Barack Obama’s old Senate seat.
During Giannoulias’ successful run for state treasurer in 2006, he used his banking experience as one of his chief qualifications. But in the Senate race, he has tried to distance himself from the bank’s troubles.
“This is a difficult day for bank employees, for my family, for this community and for all those who built businesses and protected their savings with the help of this bank,” Chief Executive Demetris Giannoulias said in a statement. “We fought to carry out the vision my father had when he founded Broadway Bank 30 years ago, but our bank — like many businesses — has struggled during these challenging times.”
