82.1 F
San Fernando
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

End of Saga for Bank

Joseph W. Kiley III, who oversaw the turnaround at First Bank of Beverly Hills in the wake of a scandal that embroiled its parent company in the late 1990s, has resigned. Kiley, CEO and president of Calabasas-based FBBH, has been with the bank since 2001. Last year, officials announced that they had decided not to renew his employment contract, and later entered into an agreement to extend Kiley’s stay through June 2006. Kiley’s resignation is effective at the end of June. “A lot of good things have happened over the last five years and a lot of good things have happened very recently,” Kiley said in a telephone interview following the announcement of his resignation. “And if I was gong to contemplate doing something else, I think now would be a good time to move on.” Bank officials said they expect to elect a replacement shortly. Kiley joined the bank as executive vice president and CFO in 2001 and was later named CEO and president. In 2004 he was appointed CEO of Beverly Hills Bancorp, FBBH parent. By 2002 the bank’s parent, then called Wilshire Financial Services Group Inc., reached a settlement under which it agreed to pay $29.5 million and other costs related to the litigation that would affect its financial results for a number of years. Wilshire Financial Services Group, through its interest in Wilshire Credit Corp., had become entangled in a scandal that bilked millions from several, mostly union, pension funds late in the 1990s. In 1998, Wilshire Credit Co., which was engaged in the secondary loan mortgage market, borrowed $160 million from Capital Consultants LLC to boost its assets after the collapse of some of its financial markets. The company defaulted on the loan, ultimately leading to the collapse of Capital Consultants, a Portland, Ore.-based investment group whose clients included a number of unions. According to SEC documents, Capital Consultants was involved in a “Ponzi-like scheme” to cover up losses from bad loans, including the loan the investment company made to Wilshire Credit Corp. Andrew Wiederhorn, who, at the time controlled Wilshire Credit Corp., was also personally implicated in the scandal. In 2004, as a result of a plea agreement, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison and fined $2 million. The principals of Capital Consultants, Jeffrey L. Grayson and his son Barclay L. Grayson, also got jail terms. As part of its settlement, Wilshire Financial Services Group also acquired the remaining share of Wilshire Credit Corp., a business it then sold to Merrill Lynch Mortgage Capital Inc. in 2004. The company denied the claims against it. At that time, WFSG changed its name to Beverly Hills Bancorp reflecting its change of focus to its banking division, and relocated its headquarters to Calabasas. Last month, what appeared to be a final piece of the years-long saga was resolved. BHBC announced that an arbitrator had dismissed a claim by a former executive who had claimed that the bank was responsible for indemnifying him in the amount of $2 million. BHBC did not name the former executive in its announcement. In its most recent full year, BHBC reported net income of $15.1 million or $0.70 per diluted share. Income from continuing operations for the year ended Dec. 31, 2004, was $13.8 million or $0.65 per diluted share. Including discontinued operations, BHBC earned $26.7 million or $1.25 per share. The 2004 results included a pre-tax gain from the sale of Wilshire Credit Corp. Amgen Expands Locally Chalk one up for the home town. Amgen Inc., which has been announcing a series of expansion efforts outside the U.S., has also apparently decided to add to its Thousand Oaks campus. The company has inked a seven year lease for an additional 48,622 square feet of space in the Conejo Spectrum in Thousand Oaks. Total consideration for the lease deal is about $7.5 million, according to real estate industry sources. Amgen will occupy about a half of a building at 1535 Rancho Conejo Boulevard. The deal is small potatoes compared to recent decisions the company made to expand its operations in Puerto Rico and to establish another facility at Cork, Ireland. Amgen said it would spend $1 billion over the next four years on its manufacturing facilities in Puerto Rico and expects to hire another 500 people there by 2010. The company in January announced that it would invest another $1 billion in Ireland where it expects to employ more than 1,100 workers by 2010. The Thousand Oaks-based biotech leader is also expanding operations in Cambridge, Mass. San Francisco, Seattle and England. Tom Festa and Jim Lindvall, brokers with Grubb & Ellis, represented the landlord in the Thousand Oaks deal, FPA Rancho Conejo Associates. Amgen was represented by Ken Ashen and Nick Gregg, brokers with CB Richard Ellis. Amgen in April announced that it reaped $1 billion in income or $0.82 per share in the first quarter ended March 31, 2006. That compares with net earnings of $854 million or $0.67 a share in the comparable period a year ago. Revenues at the company rose 14 percent in the quarter to $3.2 billion.

Featured Articles

Related Articles