AmBase Chairman Bianco Purchases 800,000 Shares of Company
Washington, Oct. 13 (Bloomberg) -- AmBase Corp. Chairman Richard A. Bianco bought 800,000 shares of the failed thrift in a move suggesting confidence in prospects for a big payoff from its ''supervisory goodwill'' lawsuit against the federal government.
Bianco, who now owns more than 9 million shares of the company, paid about $1.2 million for the shares on the open market, according to a regulatory filing. He has options to purchase another 1.7 million shares.
AmBase's lawsuit, which doesn't yet specify what damages are sought, represents the bulk of the company's assets. The complaint is one of about 120 suits that seek as much as $30 billion in damages for a 1989 accounting rule change that forced dozens of savings and loans into financial turmoil.
The suits charge government regulators with breaking promises made to encourage investors to take over failing thrifts in the early 1980s. In some cases, regulators told investors they could create a paper asset -- known as ''supervisory goodwill'' - - and write it off over decades.
Congress changed the rules as part of the 1989 thrift bailout, prompting a flood of lawsuits. So far, the courts have largely sided with the S&Ls and their owners, although any judgment for Greenwich, Connecticut-based AmBase is likely years away.
Shares of AmBase, like those of other goodwill-related securities, have tumbled in recent months. AmBase shares closed today at 1.96, up 21 cents, although still down 52 percent from their Feb. 6 high of 4.10.
AmBase's lawsuit involves its 1988 acquisition of Carteret Bancorp, which was seized by federal regulators in 1992.
Bianco wouldn't respond to a request for comment. |
