Why Metropolitan Bank Stock Is Tumbling Today

Metropolitan Bank MCB shares are trading lower on Thursday. Traders are circulating a Vidar Research Substack titled "Metropolitan Commercial Bank Is A Mixed Bag Of Problems."

According to the Substack report from Vidar Research, there are four obvious problems at Metropolitan Bank. 

First, MCB is the issuer of choice for prepaid debit cards of crypto firms, which suggests the bank is operating in some "grey and shady areas."

In January, the bank announced that it was getting out of the crypto scene, but Vidar Research isn't buying it. The firm noted that MCB laid out plans to exit the crypto space back in 2017, but it still has several crypto clients, per its third-quarter investor presentation.

Vidar also highlighted deposit issues and similarities to Signature Bank SBNY, noting that significant outflows could create liquidity issues.

"The scope of deposit bleed at MCB is shocking," the firm stated in the report.

If MCB were to face similar problems as other community banks have come up against, the bank lacks collateral that it could post in order to preserve liquidity, Vidar Research said. 

"MCB is just another greedy community bank, using the 'entrepreneurial' paint to attract non interest bearing deposits from high risk customers from crypto and fintech," the report states.

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MCB Price Action: Metropolitan Bank has a 52-week high of $107.19 and a 52-week low of $13.98.

Metropolitan Bank shares are down 28.2% at $25.16 at the time of writing, according to Benzinga Pro.

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