This is what we have here with CEO Brett Jefferson of Hildene Capital, a diversified institutional asset manager specializing in Asset-Based and Credit opportunities. (Full disclosure from the writer: I have known him for years.) In the summer of 2022, Jefferson contacted The Federal Reserve, FDIC and the California Department of Protection and Innovation (DFPI) for help related to his concerns with Monterey County Bank, where his company has investments. He received a polite response and no action or follow-up. As it is a bank with a history of issues known to those officials, the bank’s most recent consent order was issued in November 2021, Jefferson is concerned.
“I think they [FDIC] needs to do something,” Jefferson says. “At least have a conversation with us to understand where we are coming from.”
“When it comes down to it their concern is the bank and the health of the bank. My concern is the investment I have but I’m also a taxpayer so if we lose money that’s a bad thing. I just want people to do their job because…I’m asking you government official a question and you government official is not answering. And that kind of bothers me.”
