FDIC pilots online auction

Following a successful pilot, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. may be

near the end of the line with its traditional method of selling loan pools

through sealed-bid, offline auctions.

Bid4Assets.com — an online marketplace for buying and selling high-value,

distressed assets from government sources — completed a $12 million loan

sale last month for the FDIC, its largest online transaction for a federal

customer to date.

The FDIC selected two firms, Bid4 Assets.com and Pedestal.com, to participate

in the pilot, and both companies conducted simultaneous, competitive online

auctions to see who could produce the highest bidders.

The entirety lot auction for $12 million in mortgages and home equity

loans was the first online loan sale conducted for the FDIC. The results

exceeded the minimum expected bid by 17 percent. Bid4Assets.com produced

the high bidder — $5.08 million — from one of its 19 unique bidders. The

results of the sale can be viewed online at www.bid4assets. com/FDICresults.

Earlier this year, Silver Spring, Md.-based Bid4Assets.com became the

first Internet-only asset auction site approved by the General Services

Administration. It conducted the first asset sales for the U.S. Marshals

Service and the Energy Department, according to the company.

The FDIC was pleased with the results of the online auction, said Richard

Salmon, supervisory asset marketing specialist at the agency's division

of resolution and receiverships in Dallas.

"We would absolutely do it again, and the FDIC is looking into setting

up an e-sale model," Salmon said. "This is our first test case, and we're

still learning from these firms, but we want to build momentum. I think

this will pay big dividends for the FDIC in the long run."