First Capital

  • Robert Weingarten, chairman of First Capital Holdings Corp.
  • Fred Buck, President of First Capital Life and has held that position for about eight years, as far back as when it was called E. F. Hutton Life.
    • 1992 - SOA - Companies on the Edge, Society of Actuaries - 20p
  • 1995 - AP - Perceptions and the politics of finance: Junk bonds and the regulatory seizure of First Capital Life, by Harry DeAngelo, Linda DeAngelo, Stuart C. Gilson - 37p
  • 1991 - LC - Morse v Robert WEINGARTEN, American Express Co., Shearson Lehman Brothers, Inc., and Michael R. Milken, Defendants - [link-justia.com]
    • Their complaint alleges: 1) that Milken either caused or helped defendant Robert Weingarten to establish First Capital, a financial services and insurance holding company that derived much of its revenue from its investment portfolio; 2) that Milken, in his capacity as "junk bond chief" (Morse's term) of the brokerage firm Drexel Burnham Lambert, underwrote First Capital's financing through offerings of junk bonds;
    • US District Court for the Southern District of New York - 777 F. Supp. 312 (S.D.N.Y. 1991), November 13, 1991
  • 1991 0511 - NYT - California Curbs First Capital Life - [link]
  • 1991 0326 - The Washington Post - A Tale of a Golden Parachute and a Chairman's Soft Landing, By Allan Sloan - [link]
    • Weingarten is a classic financial entrepreneur type.
    • First Capital used to be called Macro Communications, and Weingarten used to be a magazine mogul.
      • When that bombed out, he ditched the magazines in 1983, moved to Los Angeles and got into mutual funds and insurance.
  • 1992 - LC - In re First Capital Corp., 146 B.R. 7 (Bankr.C.D.Cal.1992).
  • 1995 - LC - FIRST CAPITAL HOLDINGS CORP - [link-casetext.com]
    • Defendants - Shearson Lehman Brothers Holdings
    • Court: United States Bankruptcy Court, C.D. California.
    • Date published: Mar 17, 1995
    • Citations - 179 B.R. 902 (Bankr. C.D. Cal. 1995), 31 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 939
    • One of the committee's claims is a fraudulent transfer claim against Shearson.
      • The committee contends that the purchase by First Capital Holdings ("FCH"), the parent debtor in this case, of Hutton Life Insurance Group ("Hutton Life") from The Hutton Group ("Hutton") in 1987 was a constructive fraudulent transfer.
      • In round numbers, the committee contends that FCH paid $300 million for a business worth $200 million in this transaction.
      • The committee seeks to recover the difference of $100 million from Shearson, the successor to Hutton
  • EF Hutton - First Capital - Pacific Corinthian Life Insurance Company
  • nytimes.com/1991/05/08/business/regulator-urges-shearson-to-add-to-insurer-s-funds.html
    • Shearson - AMEX
    • "Our continuing review" of the First Capital Life Insurance Company "indicates that the company needs a substantial infusion of cash," Mr. Garamendi said. "This is Shearson Lehman's and American Express's responsibility." He added that the position in First Capital had been purchased "so that they would have annuities and life insurance products to sell through their financial consultants, and sell they did."
    • Tne negotiations with Shearson result largely from its ill-fated acquisition in 1988 of E. F. Hutton & Company. Hutton had an insurance company, E. F. Hutton Life, which it sold to First Capital Holdings, the parent of First Capital Life, in 1987 to raise money.
    • Fidelity Bankers Life Insurance of Virginia
  • 2003 - LC - VILLAREAL v. PACIFIC LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY
    • W. D.Tex 2003
    • United States District Court, Texas, San Antonio Division. (Apr 16, 2008)
  • The commissioner of insurance in California, Mr. Garamendi, tried to get capital contributions for us from American Express and Shearson, and he coined the now famous phrase "if membership has its privileges, ownership has its responsibilities."
  • That, unfortunately, didn't shake American Express very much and it decided to ride it out.
  • To give you some numbers, our average weekly surrenders:
    • in January 1991 were $17.2 million.
    • In February, surrenders averaged $22 million;
    • in March, $15 million;
    • and in April, $33 million.
    • The first two weeks of May totaled $290.7 million per week.
  • When a run starts, it can leap up rather geometrically.
  • I don't think this is news, but we also asked for a cease-and-desist order, and the commissioner graciously agreed.
    • On May 10, 1991, we were issued a cease-and desist order, which enabled us to stop the policyholder run.

--  Fred Buck, President of First Capital Life and has held that position for about eight years, as far back as when it was called E. F. Hutton Life.

1992 - SOA - Companies on the Edge, Society of Actuaries - 20p