LIME Financial Svcs. - Wholesale - Agency, FHA

Update: An official closing notice was sent out to Brokers, with the unfortunate LIME slogan "The Future of Lending" as the header. Click here to view the entire statement.

The Implode-O-Meter received this statement from Credit Suisse:

"Credit Suisse is closing Lime Financial and exiting the residential mortgage origination business to focus on higher margin businesses where we have competitive advantages and strong franchises, and that support the acceleration of our integrated bank model."

In a conference call at 9:30 AM PST, all AE's were told LIME Financial was being shut down by parent Credit Suisse. Current loans in the pipeline will be closed and all must be funded by the 16th. An official notice to brokers should be sent out shortly.

"This has nothing to do with our performance," the speaker said, "this is all about the banking and Wall Street mess." "This was unexpected and came as a surprise to all of us," listeners were told. Cited as the reason was the press release from Credit Suisse yesterday announcing the acceleration of their "strategic plan," which included a headcount reduction of 5,300 and cost-cutting measures such as exiting less profitable businesses across all operations.

Based in Lake Oswego, OR, LIME Financial Services Ltd. was acquired by Credit Suisse in October of last year. At that time, Lime Financial had "over 150 professionals and operate[d] in 49 states and the District of Columbia." Closing volume averaged $42.3 million per month in 2007.

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