IndyMac Bancorp files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) - IndyMac Bancorp Inc IDMC.PK, once one of the largest U.S. mortgage lenders, has filed for bankruptcy protection, less than three weeks after being seized by federal regulators following a bank run by depositors.

The Pasadena, California-based company filed for Chapter 7 protection on Thursday with the U.S. bankruptcy court in Los Angeles, indicating it plans to liquidate. IndyMac expects the court to appoint a bankruptcy trustee promptly.

The filing, which was widely expected, does not affect the status of depositors in IndyMac Federal Bank FSB, the successor to IndyMac's former banking unit after it was taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp last month.

Most deposits at IndyMac Federal Bank are insured up to $100,000. The bank also holds the former bank's mortgages and other loans on its balance sheet, an IndyMac federal spokesman said. The FDIC is trying to sell IndyMac's assets.

"Holding companies often go bankrupt once banking units get taken over because most assets and operations are at the bank level," said Ralph "Chip" MacDonald, a partner at Jones Day in Atlanta. "They often file to reorganize, but there was probably no viable plan here."

IndyMac Bancorp, the holding company, has between $50 million and $100 million of assets, between $100 million and $500 million of liabilities, and fewer than 50 creditors, according to the bankruptcy filing.

Chief Executive Michael Perry, the company's sole remaining employee, said in a court filing he didn't have information normally required to file for bankruptcy protection because the FDIC has sole possession of IndyMac's books and records.

Perry has no involvement in IndyMac Federal's operations.