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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Totally Dodgy Backstory of the Bank that Just Refinanced Trump Tower
Donald Trump has succeeded in refinancing Trump Tower. Thats no small feat. The Trump Organization has mountains of debt and become a financial pariah. The companys longtime accountant, Mazars, recently abandoned the Trumps amid a New York state investigation into whether the company systematically manipulated the value of its assets. The accounting firm said it could no longer vouch for the accuracy of a decades worth of Trump Organization financial statements, insisting those documents should no longer be relied upon.
But an internet bank called Axos has stepped up with a financial lifeline for the former presidents company, working with the Trump Org. to refinance Trump Tower for a cool $100 million, in a transaction first reported by Forbes. Eric Trump released a statement defending the deal, insisting his family company was very profitable and had no problem refinancing. (Axos declined to comment for this story. The Trump Organization did not respond to a request for comment.)
Axos is an unusual lender, steeped in controversy. Its CEO and top investors have strong financial ties to the GOP. And Axos appears to be solidifying its position as the Trump-family banker, having previously stepped in as a financier for the family company of Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner.
The deal comes at a time when the Trump Org. faces legal peril from city and state regulators in New York. It offers a window into the Trump companys financial standing, given that it had to turn to a politically connected online bank and not a major Wall Street institution to refinance the loan on the companys most iconic property. And the deal creates the possibility for yet another glaring conflict of interest should Donald Trump run for president again in 2024.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/axos-bank-trump-tower-donald-trump-1320670/
drray23
(7,629 posts)Wounded Bear
(58,656 posts)any docs with personal info and 'discount codes' get shredded, the rest straight to recycle.
FakeNoose
(32,639 posts)... but maybe they just don't care.
Lots of questions here. Hmmm....
PatSeg
(47,430 posts)gratuitous
(82,849 posts)Sort of makes you wonder what consideration Axos is expecting to get that they'd light $100 million on fire. I don't know if they're imbeciles at Axos or if they've got a line on a major payoff for such a reckless (at least as viewed from the outside) financial move.
EleanorR
(2,391 posts)Investigation closed 5 months after trump took office.
https://probesreporter.com/sites/default/files/uploads/documents/DI%20-%20BOFI%202017-1024.pdf
27-Jun-2017: SEC investigation ends. Letter sent to the
company indicates no enforcement action recommended.
No other documents were released on this probe so we
dont know why it started or when the BOFI was first
notified. Nine pages comprising of an SEC Case Closing
Recommendation were withheld. A Case Closing
Recommendation is the SECs report that tells you why a
probe was opened, what work was done, and the
conclusions reached. To date, the SEC is adamant in its
refusal to release even one word from its Case Closing
Recommendations and similar documents, a practice for
which we remain sharply critical of the agency.
Ray Bruns
(4,097 posts)But then again, it is trump. So fingers crossed.
EleanorR
(2,391 posts)Read the whole RS article. This company seems to be dirty as hell. But republicans will simply look the other way or pass regulations making this corrupt company's actions fine and dandy and then be rewarded with payoffs like trump got.
Link to tweet
Doc Sportello
(7,522 posts)He was hosting Death Valley Days at the time and it wasn't out of love for the Western genre. He was a has-been actor who needed the money. But he was gaining popularity as a speaker at RW confabs. So a group of wealthy Orange County cons came up with a scheme to buy some worthless desert land he had purchased in hopes of making it a place for filming Westerns. As I remember it made him a millionaire and he was able to become a full-time speaker for their causes (principally against Medicare and socialism), then ran for gov in '66. Believe I first read it in Rolling Stone. The scheme was basically illegal, but is just one more example of the rich doing what they want without consequences.
I'm sure dump's financial issues are of little concern to billionaires who did great during his time and they are happy to bail him out.
ZonkerHarris
(24,226 posts)cbabe
(3,541 posts)Celerity
(43,374 posts)Axos Bank is an American federally chartered savings and loan association and direct bank headquartered in San Diego, California. It is the main consumer brand of Axos Financial.
Founded and headquartered in San Diego, California, Axos has offices in Los Angeles, California; Laguna Hills, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; Salt Lake City, Utah; Kansas City, Kansas; and Columbus, Ohio.
The bank has three branches located in San Diego, California; Las Vegas, Nevada;, and Columbus, Ohio.
Axos Bank holds approximately $14 billion in assets and deposits and employs approximately 1100 people.
Axos Bank is federally chartered, regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). It is a Better Business Bureau (BBB) accredited business.
Axos Bank was previously known as BofI Federal Bank until it rebranded in October 2018.
Axos Bank, formerly Bank of Internet USA, was founded in 1999 by Jerry Englert, the founder of Bank of Del Mar, and Gary Lewis Evans, who was president of La Jolla Bank at the time. The bank was among the first digital banks in the world. The bank's holding company, BofI Holding, Inc., was incorporated in the state of Delaware in July 1999 for the stated purpose of organizing and opening an Internet-based bank. The opening day of the bank was on July 4 for three reasons. One, Mr Englert wanted its customers to realize that although traditionally July 4 is a bank holiday, people would still be able to access the bank due to its online format. Second, he wanted to pay homage to his oldest daughter's birthday. Finally, the theme of the bank "Independence from traditional banking" jibed with the holiday's history.
The bank was launched with $14 million in startup capital and was profitable within 14 months. The bank's thrift charter allowed it, and continues to allow it, to operate within all 50 states. The bank went public on NASDAQ as Bank of Internet USA on March 15, 2005. The number of employees running and managing the bank has grown from 35 in 2007 to 534 as of December 31, 2015.
In October 2011, Bank of Internet USA changed its name to BofI Federal Bank. However, BofI Federal Bank continued to use the Bank of Internet USA brand for its online consumer direct banking. The goal of Bank of Internet USA remained to provide banking services more cost-effectively by eliminating the overhead costs of branches. According to Andrew Micheletti, CFO and VP of BofI Holding, Inc., We are taking advantage of the Internet for both efficiency in the back office and efficiency in the distribution and delivery of banking products.
In April 2014, the bank purchased the bank unit of H&R Block. In 2018, the bank became the exclusive provider of H&R Block's refund anticipation loans.
Axos has been a supporter of the United States Navy SEAL Family Foundation since 2014.
From 2013 to the end of 2015, Bank of Internet USA saw a 327% growth in the number of savings deposits. Part of that growth may be attributed to Bank of Internet acquiring a portion of H&R Block's banking business in 2014, including 300,000 individual retirement accounts (IRAs).
In March 2018, the bank launched BOFI Realtor (Axos Realtor), a free mobile app that allows realtors to track the status of their clients' mortgages through the bank.
In April 2018, Axos Bank purchased the Chapter 7 business of the legal services company Epiq Systems Inc. This made Axos the second-largest company in the Chapter 7 bankruptcy and fiduciary services field.
In July 2018, the bank provided a $40 million loan for a synagogue conversion on the Upper West Side. The bank's services have appealed to middle-market investors and luxury rental developers in Brooklyns ultra-Orthodox communities, according to The Real Deal New York Real Estate News.
In 2018, the bank issued a $57 million construction loan to Bridgeton Holdings to complete its conversion of a Tribeca office building into the Walker Hotel.
In August 2018, Axos Bank's partnership with Nationwide began when Axos Financial announced its intention to acquire approximately $3 billion in deposits and 40,000 customers from Nationwide Bank. The acquisition received regulatory approval in September 2018 and was completed in November 2018. The two companies have an agreement to market to each other's customers.
In 2018, Bank of Internet USA provided Dr. Kanodia, a plastic surgeon, with a $180 million loan for his Spec house.
On October 1, 2018, BofI Federal Bank re-branded as Axos Bank, and switched its stock exchange from NASDAQ to the NYSE.
In October 2018, BofI Federal Bank official rebranded to Axos Bank.
In November 2018, Axos completed its acquisition of approximately $3 billion deposits and 40,000 customers from Nationwide Bank. Axos and Nationwide then entered into a joint-marketing relationship.
In December 2018, Axos signed an agreement to acquire the deposits of MWA Bank. The transaction closed in March 2019.
In July 2021, Axos announced net income of $215.7 million, up 20% year-over-year.
In February of 2022, Axos gave former President Donald Trump's company, The Trump Organization, a loan for $100 million to refinance the Trump Tower despite lacking solid financial reports after its accounting firm declined to back 10 years of financial statements that they produced for The Trump Organization.
cbabe
(3,541 posts)Celerity
(43,374 posts)cheers