SoFi’s hopes of becoming a bank have most likely been crushed after the departure of former CEO Mike Cagney, Securities and Exchange Commission former chairman Arthur Levitt told the Financial Times yesterday.
The charter, submitted to the State of Utah last June, would give the online lender the ability to collect deposits insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The upheaval at SoFi last week, with Cagney stepping down, makes the likelihood that FDIC will approve the company’s application unlikely, at least according to Levitt.
Levitt is an advisor to SoFi.
Levitt, who has been advising SoFi for two years, said that the FDIC had rejected similar applications “many times” before, adding:
[F]or a company as aggressive as SoFi, I think the chances of that happening were slim. Now they become almost impossible.
Cagney’s departure last week came after two lawsuits, for unfair work practices and sexual harassment, respectively, were filed against the company earlier in the year. Venture capitalist Tom Hutton is now filling in for Cagney as SoFi chairman, while Cagney continues to serve as CEO during the search for a replacement.
Read more at PYMNTs and the Financial Times.