Word: wise
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Dates: during 1990-1990
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When the small thrift ran into trouble during the inflationary climate of the mid-1970s, it was taken over by Denver businessman James Metz, who saw the sleepy S&L as the future flagship of a financial empire. He named himself chairman and hired Wise, an S&L marketing whiz from Columbia Savings in Kansas, to run the company. The nattily dressed Wise wasted no time in transforming Mile High's small-town image. He launched an ambitious expansion drive, unveiled plans for a glass-and-steel headquarters downtown, and renamed the company Silverado, evoking the dreams of prospectors...
...Wise too was ready to move. He was eager to shake the small-town dust from his shoes and gain entry to Denver's society. One of his first acts was to hire a public relations firm to burnish his image and put a speechwriter on the Silverado payroll. "I remember him standing up in white tie and tails and pledging $100,000 of Silverado's money to the Denver Symphony," recalls an associate. Chuck Henning, former executive director of the Colorado Savings & Loan League, notes that "Wise was image-conscious and was going through all the proper steps...
...self-assured Wise, who contributed handsomely to political campaigns, enjoyed the support of such influential officeholders as Colorado's Democratic Congressman Timothy Wirth, who later graduated to the Senate. Wise served two terms on the board of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Topeka, which regulates thrifts in the region. He even served as chairman of the regulatory policy committee for the U.S. League, the most influential S&L lobbying group. Openly, the League poured millions of dollars into political campaigns through its PAC. Says Edwin Gray, former chairman of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board: "I don't think...
Deregulation coupled with federal insurance set Silverado loose like a runaway stagecoach. "Silverado began to take advantange of that $100,000 insurance fast," says Hemming. Wise opened an office that did nothing more than generate new deposits by telephone solicitation. He advertised market- breaking high interest rates called the Silverado Prime. But paying those rates meant Silverado had to get a higher return on loans. To do this, Wise and Metz gradually moved Silverado out of the home-loan market, abandoning small local builders and buyers in favor of big depositors and even bigger developers...
...going on. But as David Paul, Colorado's financial-services regulator, told a congressional panel, "Silverado spared no expense to convince the regulators of their prudence." Paul said Silverado had brought "enormous management, consulting, accounting and legal resources to bear to rebut regulators' concerns." And the fast-talking Wise had the ear of Mowbray, the chief regulator in Topeka, who seemed to give Silverado the benefit of every doubt...