Four banks closed by regulators as credit crunch shakes out
By John Letzing, MarketWatch
Last update: 8:56 p.m. EDT April 24, 2009Comments: 337SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Four banks in Georgia, Michigan, California and Idaho were closed by regulators Friday, costing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s deposit insurance fund nearly $700 million as the effects of the credit crisis continued rippling throughout the U.S. economy.
Kennesaw, Ga.-based American Southern Bank marked the 26th bank failure of the year and the fifth in the state of Georgia, the FDIC said. Farmington Hills, Mich.-based Michigan Heritage Bank then became the 27th failure of 2009, followed by the closure of Calabasas, Ca.-based First Bank of Beverly Hills.
Alpharetta, Ga.-based Bank of North Georgia has agreed to assume American Southern Bank's deposits, the FDIC said in a statement. American Southern's one office will reopen as a branch of Bank of North Georgia on Monday.
American Southern had roughly $112.3 million in assets and $104.3 million in deposits as of March 30, according to the FDIC.
Bank of North Georgia has also agreed to buy roughly $31.3 million of the failed bank's assets, the FDIC said. The FDIC estimated the cost of American Southern's failure to its deposit insurance fund will be $41.9 million.
American Southern's collapse marks the 51st bank failure since the credit crisis began last year. During that time, an inordinate amount of the total bank failures have occurred in Georgia.
The last bank to fail in Georgia was Atlanta-based Omni National Bank on March 29, the FDIC said.
The failure of First Bank of Beverly Hills is also only the latest in a string of California bank closures. The FDIC said it marks the fourth failure in that state this year, with County Bank, of Merced, being the most recent California closure, on Feb. 6.
The FDIC said, "an assuming institution could not be located" for First Bank of Beverly Hills' deposits and assets, and said it will mail checks to insured depositors on Monday.
First Bank of Beverly Hills had $1.5 billion in assets as of Dec. 31, the FDIC said, and $1 billion in deposits. The FDIC estimated the bank had $179,000 in uninsured deposits, and that its failure will cost the FDIC's deposit insurance fund $394 million.
Michigan Heritage Bank is the first in that state to be closed this year. The bank had $184.6 million in total assets as of Dec. 31, and $151.7 million in deposits, according to the FDIC.
Farmington Hills-based Level One Bank has agreed to assume Michigan Heritage Bank's deposits, and on Monday Michigan Heritage's three offices will reopen as branches of Level One Bank, the FDIC said.
Level One has agreed to buy roughly $46.1 million of the failed bank's assets, the FDIC said.
The FDIC estimated the cost of Michigan Heritage Bank's failure to its deposit insurance fund will be $71.3 million.
Ketchum, Idaho-based First Bank of Idaho also became the first bank closure for that state this year, and the 29th in the U.S. this year- it was the first failure in Idaho since 1988, the FDIC said.
Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank has assumed First Bank of Idaho's deposits, the FDIC said. First Bank of Idaho had $374 million in deposits and $488.9 million in assets as of Dec. 31.
The FDIC estimated the closure of First Bank of Idaho will cost its deposit insurance fund $191.2 million.
John Letzing is a MarketWatch reporter based in San Francisco.作者: whisper 时间: 2009-4-25 09:44
