Bank Failure
By Ryan Schuette | 05/14/2012
Three federal regulatory agencies finalized stress-testing guidance Monday for financial institutions with total assets worth more than $10 billion. The Federal Reserve, FDIC, and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency released the guidance after receiving 17 comment letters from banks, financial advisory firms, and trade groups. The agencies stressed the importance of capital and liquidity, saying that systemically important financial institutions should apply stress tests to these areas on a regular basis as the rule moves forward.
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By Ryan Schuette | 05/07/2012
Federal regulators shuttered a Florida bank Friday, raising the national bank failure tally so far this year to 23. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency closed the North Lauderdale-based Security Bank, National Association, and appointed the FDIC receiver. The financial institution went under with $101 million in total assets and $99.1 million in total deposits. The costs to the agency’s Deposit Insurance Fund totaled $10.8 million, a fact the FDIC said marked the least costly resolution for it this year.
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By Ryan Schuette | 04/30/2012
Five banks went under Friday, lifting the national tally for the year to 22, even while bank failures continue to slow nationally in contrast with the rate of closure for financial institutions in recent years. The failed banks included two in Maryland, plus others in California, Minnesota, and South Carolina. The cost to the FDIC’s Deposit Insurance Fund: $272.6 million. This is the first time for five banks to close in a single weekend since April last year. Despite the uptick, FDIC spokespeople continue to consider 2010 the "high-water mark" for bank failures nationally.
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By Ryan Schuette | 04/25/2012
The FDIC projects that it will replenish the hard-hit Deposit Insurance Fund on schedule, as fewer community banks fail and the economic recovery turns a corner. The agency made the projections in a semi-annual update Tuesday that also found so-called Problem Institutions falling from 844 in September last year to 813 by the fourth quarter. Requirements under the Dodd-Frank Act require that the FDIC shore up the fund by 1.35 percent by 2020. The FDIC said that the fund ended last year at $11.8 billion – the equivalent of a shift to 0.17 percent for the reserve ratio.
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By Ryan Schuette | 04/23/2012
Regulators closed a bank in New Jersey Friday, raising the national tally this year to 16 as bank failures continue to crawl at a glacial pace. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency shuttered Fort Lee-based Fort Lee Federal Savings Bank, appointing the FDIC receiver. The bank closed with $51.9 million in total assets and $50.7 million in total deposits. Astoria, New York-based Alma Bank signed off on a purchase-and-assumption agreement with the FDIC, buying $15.7 million in total assets and assuming virtually all of the deposits.
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By Ryan Schuette | 03/30/2012
Another bank fell quiet in Michigan Friday, lifting the national tally to 16 this year but falling short of the pace set by bank failures over the last several years. State regulators shuttered Dearborn-based Fidelity Bank, citing unsafe and unsound conditions in an order that made the FDIC receiver for $818.2 million in total assets and $747.6 million in total deposits. The Huntington National Bank stepped up to assume nearly all of Fidelity’s assets, along with 15 branches that it rebranded and reopened Saturday.
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By Ryan Schuette | 03/26/2012
State regulators shuttered two banks Friday, lifting the national tally to 15 for 2012 so far. Branches fell dark for Rock Spring, Georgia-based Covenant Bank & Trust and Wilmette, Illinois-based Premier Bank. Covenant Bank & Trust went under with $95.7 million in total assets and $90.6 million in total deposits, burning $31.5 million from the FDIC’s Deposit Insurance Fund. Stearns Bank signed off on a loss-share transaction to cover $71.6 million in assets from the financial institution. The International Bank of Chicago picked up Premier Bank in a separate transaction.
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By Abby Gregory | 03/12/2012
Illinois financial institution New City Bank has closed its door, and the FDIC revealed that it has been unable to find a financial institution to take over the bank's operations.
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By Ryan Schuette | 03/05/2012
The bank failure tally for 2012 rose Friday as state regulators shuttered a bank in Georgia, emboldening the state's reputation as a graveyard for community banks in recent years. The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance turned off the lights for Doraville-based Global Commerce Bank, which went under with about $143.7 million in total assets and $116.8 million in total deposits. Neighboring Metro City Bank entered into a purchase-and-assumption transaction with the FDIC, scooping up $79 million in assets and leaving the rest to the agency for disposition.
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By Ryan Schuette | 02/24/2012
The lights went dark for two banks in Georgia and Minnesota Friday, with one unable to secure an acquirer for deposits. The cash registers at Little Falls-based Home Savings of America fell silent without any bank scheduled to take up $434.1 million in total assets and $432.2 million in total deposits. The FDIC said in a statement that it approved payouts for customers worth the sum of their deposits. The agency insures deposits for up to $250,000 each. State regulators in Georgia also shuttered Ellaville-based Central Bank of Georgia.
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