Pasadena Officials Expected to Discuss City’s Banking Practices at Council Finance Committee Meeting Monday

Pasadena City Treasurer Vic Erganian and Finance Director Matt Hawkesworth are expected to deliver statements regarding the safety of City funds at the Council’s Finance Committee meeting Monday in the wake of the collapse of two U.S. banks on Friday and Sunday.

The City’s regular banking institution is Bank of America, which is financially secure. The City does not bank with Silicon Valley Bank, the larger of the two banks which failed.

“Our cash and investment management is incredibly conservative to ensure that the city’s funds are at minimal risk and safely invested,” City spokesperson Lisa Derderian said Sunday in an email.

The City limits Certificate of Deposit investments with banks to $250,000, the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) limit for insurance, Derderian said. “Therefore, even if a bank other than our regular banking institution, Bank of America, did have similar issues, we would be covered by the FDIC.”

Derderian said the City manages cash balances on a daily basis “to ensure we do not have large sums of money unnecessarily sitting in a bank account.”

According to Derderian, City Hall officials have previously reported to the Finance Committee information about market value versus book value of investments for some City investments, and how the Finance Dept. manages cash flow forecasts on a 12-month cycle to ensure that the City would never need to sell assets at less than book value to support cash flow.

The officials will be making their statements as part of their quarterly investment report at the Finance Committee meeting at 3:00 p.m. Monday. The public may join the meeting by computer or electronic devices, at: cityofpasadena.net/cczoom, or by telephone only dial-in at 1-669-900-6833, Meeting ID: 161 482 446