Book Details

From International trainee to # 2 at Corestates Financial, witness to the debacle acquisition by First Union

The author documents unique adventures in the Philippines, Australia, South Africa and Iran while in, and later managing, the bank's Asia, Middle East and Africa unit from 1971 to 1979. As International Division head in 1982, he was the first US banker to withdraw loans made to Latin America, precipitating what became known as the LDC Debt crisis, resulting in his conflicts with New York bankers and the Federal Reserve. As Chief Credit Officer he shepherded Corestates through the 1989 to 1993 real estate meltdown while actively participating in one of the nation’s first Diversity initiative. As President and COO, he assisted CEO Larsen navigate years of banking system consolidation, culminating in Corestates’ acquisition by First Union which he describes as “…the worst acquisition in banking history” when First Union dissipated Corestates’ value, for which they had paid the highest price to book value ever, either before or since. He blames First Union’s senior management for multiple bad decisions, which, had they listened to Corestates’ executives, would never have been made. The book concludes with criticism of how banking regulators have weakened the banking system as a supplier of risk capital by their attempts to respond to past crises and congressional demands.

 

About the Author

Charles L. Coltman III

Born in Washington DC, Charles Coltman grew up in Bangkok Thailand. He graduated from Westtown School in 1960 and Tufts University in 1964. After graduation, he joined US Army Intelligence, serving in Vietnam and the Pentagon. He joined Philadelphia National Bank in 1972, eventually rising to number two in the successor organization, CoreStates Financial, retiring from National City of Cleveland in 2003. He has two sons and a daughter, and three grandchildren, and now lives in Edgewater, Maryland, and Palm Beach, Florida, with his fiancé Juliette Lloyd.

Also by Charles L. Coltman III

The Coltmans
The Coltmans (eBook Edition)