Bank renames chairman and CEO Alan Levan

Alan Levan is back as chairman and CEO of Fort Lauderdale-based BBX Capital.

In 2014, a federal jury ruled that BBX, which formerly was BankAtlantic, and Levan misled investors about loan losses during the nation’s 2007 financial meltdown. The company and Levan were ordered to pay $5.86 million and the Securities and Exchange Commission sought to bar Levan from leading a public company.

But BBX won its appeal on the 2014 judgment. And Tuesday, the company announced that Levan would resume roles of chairman and CEO. Jarett Levan, who had served as acting chairman and CEO, will continue to serve as president of BBX, the company said.

Alan Levan still is facing a new trial on one SEC claim concerning remarks that he allegedly made in 2007 during a conference call with investors. The new trial is expected to begin March 20, BBX said.

Of his appointment, Alan Levan released a lengthy statement saying that he remains “enormously proud of the decisions I made in 2007” and that the SEC’s lawsuit was a burden “imposed upon us by misguided regulators.”

Alan Levan said BankAtlantic “did not participate in the reckless lending and investment decisions that ballooned the housing market and led to the market collapse when the bubble burst.” He said BankAtlantic “did not make subprime loans” and apprised investors of market conditions.

“I truly believe that no banking company did a better job of early public disclosure than BankAtlantic,” Alan Levan said, saying the bank warned investors in public filings. “The lawsuit against us was clearly a case of choosing to ‘kill the messenger.’ ”

The reappointment could not happen until the order from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit was final. The reversal also removed the fines.

In 2012, the SEC filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in Miami, claiming that BankAtlantic and Alan Levan knew that a large portion of the bank’s loan portfolio — which consisted primarily of loans on large tracts of lands intended for development into singlefamily housing and condominiums — was deteriorating in early 2007 due to borrowers’ inability to meet their loan obligations. The SEC claimed Alan Levan knew this from participating in the bank’s major loan committee that approved the extensions and principal increases.

The SEC couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

But at the time of the lawsuit, Miami regional office director Eric Bustillo said that “BankAtlantic and Alan Levan publicly minimized the risks in the bank’s commercial residential loan portfolio when in reality, they had significant concerns about the borrowers’ ability to pay. Investors had a right to know this key information.”

BBX Capital is no longer a bank-holding company. In 2011, BB&T of North Carolina agreed to acquire the best of the assets held by BankAtlantic for slightly more than $300 million.

BBX is now a holding company for resort management company Bluegreen Corp. in Boca Raton, and BBX Sweet Holdings, owner of Hoffman’s Chocolates in South Florida, as well as the Florida franchisee for MOD Pizza.