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LOS ANGELES - Withdrawal slips in hand, customers lined up at Countrywide Bank branches on Friday as parent Countrywide Financial Corp tried to assure investors and depositors that it and its bank were stable.
Countrywide Bank said it had more than US$107 billion ($158 billion) of assets and 105 banking offices.
On Thursday, Countrywide Financial, the largest US mortgage lender, drew down an entire US$11.5 billion bank credit line as a credit shortage limited access to short-term cash.
"The bottom line is it's your money," said Yumi Oshima, a graphic designer who had come to the Glendale branch in Los Angeles to move her more than US$100,000 out of Countrywide certificates of deposit if the penalty was not too stiff.
She knew that her two CDs were insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) for US$100,000, but said she was still concerned.
Across town, an Encino branch employee said the 10 customers he served were there not to withdraw funds, but to be reassured that their money was FDIC-insured.
- Reuters
