A conversation with Ken Parsons

I had the opportunity Thanksgiving weekend to talk to Ken Parsons, the former head of the Venture Bank holding company.

It was a subdued and melancholy Ken Parsons which appeared.

Parsons talked about the bank, about the problems leading up to the bank’s failure and his efforts to keep the bank open.   But one thing he wanted everyone to know was how the depositors money was saved.

“A couple of months before the FDIC action, I talked to my bank managers and told them to make sure that all depositors money was safe,”  Parsons  said. 

Bank managers contacted all depositors whose money might be at risk and moved that money into accounts that were safe.  “Not  a single depositor lost a penny,” Parsons said.

Not so for stockholders.   All stockholders in Venture Bank lost every penny.   “I feel most sorry for our employees,” Parsons said.  “Many of them had their money invested in the bank and many of them were hurt.”

He didn’t have a good word to say about the FDIC and its efforts to close Venture Bank.   “We had investors ready to step in, but they didn’t give us a chance,” he said. 

His future is up in the air.  “I’ve never had to look for work before,” he said.  “This is the first time in my life that I’ve been out of a job.”