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| Economy |
| FDIC shuts banks in Fla., Minn., Ariz., Calif. |
| 2010-05-09 |
| Regulators on Friday shut down banks in Florida, Minnesota, Arizona and California, bringing the number of U.S. bank failures to 68 this year. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took over The Bank of Bonifay, based in Bonifay, Fla., which had $242.9 million in assets and $230.2 million in deposits; and Access Bank, in Champlin, Minn., with $32 million in assets and $32 million in deposits. The agency also seized Towne Bank of Arizona in Mesa, Ariz., with $120.2 million in assets and $113.2 million in deposits; and 1st Pacific Bank of California in San Diego, with $335.8 million in assets and $291.2 million in deposits. First Federal Bank of Florida in Lake City, Fla. agreed to acquire Bonifay's deposits and about $78.1 million of its assets. The FDIC will keep the remainder for eventual sale. PrinsBank of Prinsburg, Minn. will assume Access' deposits and assets. Commerce Bank of Arizona, based in Tucson, Ariz., agreed to assume all of the deposits and assets of Towne Bank, and City National Bank of Los Angeles will assume all of 1st Pacific Bank's deposits and assets. The failure of The Bank of Bonifay is expected to cost the deposit insurance fund $78.7 million; that of Access Bank, $5.5 million; that of Towne Bank, $41.8 million; and that of 1st Pacific Bank, $87.7 million. With the 68 closures so far this year, the pace of bank failures this year is double that of 2009. By May 1 last year, U.S. regulators had shut down 32 banks. There were 140 bank failures in the U.S. last year, the highest annual tally since 1992, at the height of the savings and loan crisis. They cost the insurance fund more than $30 billion. Twenty-five banks failed in 2008 and only three succumbed in 2007. The number of bank failures likely will peak this year and will be slightly higher than in 2009, FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said recently. |
| Posted by:Fred |