No New Failures

As of 11:45 pm EST there have been no bank failures.  The Bank Blog will be updated throughout the evening as new information arrives.

95th ranked Fidelity Bank of Dearborn, Michigan, was closed today by the Michigan Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation. The Huntington National Bank of Columbus, Ohio, agreed to assume the approximately $818.2 million in total assets and $747.6 million in total deposits. Huntington is a relatively weak bank itself.  It ranks 468th worst on the current list. This is the second failed bank purchase for the bank having previously acquired Warren Bank of Warren, Michigan in October, 2009. The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $92.8 million.

Another Top 10 Riskiest Bank Fails

Seventh-ranked Premier Bank of Wilmette, Illinois, was closed today by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation – Division of Banking. International Bank of Chicago (5528th) of Chicago, Illinois, agreed to assume the approximately $199.0 million in total deposits. In addition, International Bank of Chicago agreed to purchase essentially all of the $268.7 million in total assets of the former bank. This was the second distressed bank acquisition by International Bank of Chicago.  The other was All American Bank of Des Plaines, Illinois in October of last year. The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $64.1 million.

52nd ranked (34th on our November listing last year), Covenant Bank & Trust, Rock Spring, Georgia, was closed today by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance. The roughly $95.7 million bank in total assets and $90.6 million in total deposits was acquired by Stearns Bank, National Association (6316th) of St. Cloud, Minnesota. Stearns Bank has been a frequent acquirer of distressed banks.  This is the seventh such purchase of a bank and the third in Georgia. As part of the deal, the FDIC and Stearns Bank entered into a loss-share transaction on $71.6 million of Covenant Bank & Trust's assets. The FDIC estimates that the cost to the DIF will be $31.5 million.

No New Failures

As of 8:25 EST there have been no new failures.  The Bank Blog will update as needed if new information arrives.

Number One Fails

New City Bank, the riskiest commercial bank on our current Top 40 list, has failed.  There was no acquirer for the bank. As of December 31, 2011, New City Bank had $71.2 million in total assets and $72.4 million in total deposits. The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $17.4 million. New City Bank recently made headlines for a federal indictment against one of its investors and Vice-Chairman, William Beavers, for failing to report and pay income taxes.

First Failure of March

Falling just short of our list, 53rd ranked Global Commerce Bank of Doraville, Georgia, was closed today by state regulators. Metro City Bank (4865th) also based in Doraville, Georgia, has agreed to assume all of the approximately $116.8 million in deposits of the former Global Commerce Bank in addition to $79 million in assets. $116.8 million in total deposits. The FDIC will retain the remaining assets, with a book value of approximately $64.7 million according to Global's most recent filing, for later disposition. The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $17.9 million.

New Top 40 Bank Fails

New to the rankings at number 18, Central Bank of Georgia of Ellaville, Georgia is our first top 40 bank failure of the new quarter. Similar to most recent failures, Central Bank was a smaller bank with approximately $278.9 million in total assets and $266.6 million in total deposits. Frequent purchaser of failed banks in the area, Ameris Bank (703rd ranked) of Moultrie, Georgia agreed to acquire the assets and deposits of the former Central Bank. The deal with the FDIC included a loss-share transaction on $192.8 million of Central Bank of Georgia's assets. The FDIC estimates that the resulting cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $67.5 million.


Home Savings of America of Little Falls, Minnesota also closed today. The formerly OTS regulated bank was not ranked due to differences in the required reporting. "The FDIC was unable to find another financial institution to take over the banking operations of Home Savings of America." As a result the approximately $434.1 million in total assets of the bank will be liquidated by the FDIC and the insured deposits will be returned to customers. The FDIC estimates that the cost to the DIF will be $38.8 million.