Provincial Treasurer Jim Dinning quickly introduced legislation to create an independent board of directors made up of government appointees was established in 1996 and ATB formally became an autonomous provincial Crown corporation on October 8, 1997. The government also appointed former Metropolitan Life CEO Paul Haggis as the new superintendent of ATB in 1996. 2000s to present The Alberta Treasury Branches rebranded in January 2002 as ATB Financial in an effort to gain stronger brand recognition in urban areas such as Calgary and Edmonton. By 2002 ATB Financial controlled 15 per cent of the province's retail banking, but lagged in the cities with seven per cent in Calgary and eight per cent in Edmonton. The official change of name for the crown corporation did not occur until 2017. ATB was not immune to the 2008 financial crisis, when over $1.2-billion of non-bank sponsored asset-backed commercial paper became illiquid. The financial crisis resulted in special provisions for credit loss of $253-million and $225-million in 2008 and 2009. Alberta's Auditor-General noted that inappropriate incentives may have been to blame for insufficient due diligence on for the losing securities. The Progressive Conservative government responded in July 2009 when Finance Minister Iris Evans announced a number of government programs to strengthen ATB's balance sheet including providing $600-million in notational capital, and changes to requirements for capital adequacy test. In 2015, the New Democratic government capitalized ATB Financial with an additional $1.5-billion to promote lending access to small and medium-sized businesses. In 2021 Fast Company named ATB Financial one its 100 Best Workplaces for Innovatorshttps://www.fastcompany.com/best-workplaces-for-innovators/2021?view=1 in the International category. Based in Calgary, it had a three-year-old incubator, ATB Ventures.https://www.fastcompany.com/90659111/best-workplaces-innovators-2021-international Controversies West Edmonton Mall scandal In 1998 ATB filed a lawsuits against the former acting superintendent of the bank and the Ghermezian family alleging the family bribed the official to issue a commercially unreasonable loan guarantee for West Edmonton Mall. The loans at issue was a $65-million 30-year loan issued at no interest, and fully guaranteed a $353.5-million loan provided by Toronto Dominion Bank, both occurring on October 31, 1994. The loan agreement also provided unusual concessions such as allowing dividends to continue to be paid, prevents ATB from initiating foreclosure proceedings for 20 years and included a lease that allowed the Ghermezian family the right to manage the mall for 99 years. The former superintendent claimed the financing occurred on the orders of Premier Ralph