No Closings This Week

No doubt due to the holiday in some parts of the country on Friday, there were no closings this week.

26th Ranked Bartow County Bank and Others Fail

Regulators made up for lost time this week closing six banks, including two in both Alabama and Georgia. Both small and large banks fell under feds axe from $38 million Rosemount Bank in Minnesota to $3 billion Superior Bank of Birmingham, Alabama.

26th ranked Bartow County Bank of Cartersville, Georgia, was closed this week by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance. Bartow County Bank had approximately $330.2 million in total assets and $304.1 million in total deposits. Hamilton State Bank (4090th) of Hoschton, GA has agreed to assume all deposits and nearly all of the assets of the failed bank. The agreement between the FDIC and Hamilton State Bank includes a loss-sharing transaction on $247.5 million of Bartow County Bank's assets and the FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $69.5 million.

Falling just shy of the list, 43rd ranked New Horizons Bank of East Ellijay, Georgia, was also closed today by Georgia regulators. Citizens South Bank (un-ranked) of Gastonia, North Carolina has agreed to assume all of the deposits of New Horizons Bank. New Horizons had approximately $110.7 million in total assets and $106.1 million in total deposits. The FDIC and Citizens South Bank entered into a loss-share transaction on $84.7 million of New Horizons Bank's assets. The FDIC estimates costs of closing the bank at $30.9 million.

60th ranked Nexity Bank of Birmingham, Alabama, also closed today. It had approximately $793.7 million in total assets and $637.8 million in total deposits. Newly formed AloStar Bank of Commerce has agreed to assume all the deposits and has entered into a loss-share transaction on $384.2 million of Nexity Bank's assets. The FDIC estimates the costs of this closure at $175.4 million.

Birmingham, Alabama also experienced largest bank closure of the week as Superior Bank was forced to shut its doors. A newly chartered bank subsidiary of Community Bancorp LLC (CBC) called Superior Bank, N.A. was formed to assume the deposits of the former bank. Superior Bank had approximately $3.0 billion in total assets and $2.7 billion in total deposits. The FDIC and Superior Bank, N.A. entered into a loss-share transaction on $1.84 billion of Superior Bank's assets. The expected costs of Superior's failure are considerable at $259.6 million.

Superior was closed by the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS). Due to differences in reporting requirements for OTS banks, they are not ranked by The Bank Blog. Superior's new owner, CBC, also acquired Cadence Bank in March. That purchase included a infusion $144 million into a bank which recently ranked 303rd on our list.

66th ranked Heritage Banking Group of Carthage, Mississippi, was closed today by the Mississippi Department of Banking and Consumer Finance. As of December 31, 2010, Heritage Banking Group had approximately $224.0 million in total assets and $196.2 million in total deposits. Trustmark National Bank (4298th) of Jackson, Mississippi has assumed the deposits of the failed bank and entered into a loss-share transaction on $156.4 million of Heritage Banking Group's assets. The FDIC estimates the cost to the DIF will be $49.1 million.

The smallest bank to close this week was 156th ranked Rosemount National Bank of Rosemount, MN with approximately $37.6 million in total assets and $36.6 million in total deposits. Central Bank (1732) of Stillwater, MN has agreed to assume all deposits. The cost is estimated at relatively inexpensive $3.6 million.

Regulators Return to Action

This Friday, 17th ranked Western Springs National Bank and Trust of Western Springs, IL became the first bank to be shut down by regulators in two week. Western had approximately $186.8 million in total assets and $181.9 million in total deposits it was closed. Heartland Bank and Trust Company, (2746th) of Bloomington, IL assumed nearly all the assets and assumed all the deposits. The FDIC estimates the cost at the closing to be $31.0 million primarily due to a loss-share transaction on $100.8 million of Western Springs National Bank and Trust's commercial loans.

93rd ranked Nevada Commerce Bank of Las Vegas, Nevada was also closed today. City National Bank (1644th) of Los Angeles, California, to assume all of the deposits of Nevada Commerce Bank. This is the fourth acquisition of a failed bank by City National Bank since the start of the financial crisis and the second in Las Vegas. Nevada Commerce Bank had assets of approximately $144.9 million and deposits of $136.4 million and its closing is expected to cost the insurance fund $31.9 million.

All is Quiet on the Failure Front

For the third week in the last five, regulators have elected not to close any commercial banks. The trend suggests that fewer banks would be at risk. While bank profitability is higher and asset values have recovered, there are still a number of banks at risk. At the Bank Blog we will be looking closely to see if the skies are clearing or this is the calm before another storm.

Number Three Worst Bank is Number One Failure

3rd ranked, The Bank of Commerce of Wood Dale, IL finally succumbed to regulators this week. The roughly $163.1 million bank by total assets had nearly identical deposits of $161.4 million, a clear sign of trouble. Advantage National Bank Group (3941st) of Elk Grove Village, IL has agreed to assume all deposits. They also entered into a loss-share transaction with the FDIC on $145.7 million of The Bank of Commerce's assets. Advantage National Bank Group will share in the losses on the asset pools covered under the loss-share agreement. The expected costs of the closure are $41.9 million.

Today, the FDIC also issued it's new list of Prompt Corrective Actions from February. This list indicates some of the most at risk banks. Included on that list are ranked banks:

4. Bank of Las Vegas
9. Michigan Commerce Bank
15. Sunrise Bank of Arizona

Silence is Golden

For the second time this month, there have been no closings. Has tide turned? Only time will tell for sure, but the statistics suggest almost as many banks still have problems as in earlier quarters.

Second Worst Bank Fails and a Surprise

Second ranked Legacy Bank of Milwaukee, WI was closed by regulators today. It had approximately $190.4 million in total assets and $183.3 million in total deposits. Seaway Bank and Trust Company of Chicago, IL has agreed to assume all deposits. Seaway is second time acquiring bank having previously bought First Suburban National Bank of Maywood, IL. Although not among those banks deemed most risky by The Bank Blog, it should be pointed out that Seaway itself is not without its risks. It most recently received a rank of 434th putting it in the highest decile in terms of risk and struggles with a lower equity ratio than its peers.

The First National Bank of Davis of Davis, OK also closed today. On paper this was a very sound, profitable bank with a ranking of 3381. But just two days ago, the bank's president (and later CEO) since 1993, W.A. "Dub" Moore, was removed by OCC. With an expected cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) of $26.5 million one can only surmise that the reported numbers were probably inaccurate. With its acquisition by the Pauls Valley National Bank (5681st) of Pauls Valley, OK chances are we will never know the bank's true state prior to failure. This is the second bank with an apparent fraud to fail since The Bank Blog began reporting.