– Agnes T. Crane is a Reuters columnist. The views expressed are her own –
Sometimes a failed lender is just a failed lender.
The relatively small size of CIT Group is a big reason the middle-market lender is headed to the wood chopper as soon as Friday. But the lender’s decision to move aggressively into the world of risky lending and not regroup when troubles in the credit markets first emerged is a classic case of bad decision-making and bad timing striking the mortal blow.
Indeed, one should resist the temptation to draw broader conclusions from a CIT bankruptcy in a world where the government is saving some banks and leaving others to languish.
CIT is no stranger to skirting the edge of trouble. In 2002, it had a near-death experience when problems at its scandal-plagued parent Tyco International cost it access to essential short-term financing. Tapping a credit line averted disaster then.
That lesson seemed to have been lost on Jeffrey Peek, a former Wall Street investment banker. He joined the company just a year later, becoming CEO in 2004. Peek then led the once-under-the-radar lender into the world of subprime loans, student lending and leveraged buyouts at a time when such ventures were hailed as the Promised Land for companies and executives with big ambitions.
