Friday, January 28, 2011

Some Large Failures and One Small Surprise

For the second time in two weeks, a bank was closed without a prospective buyer: 5th ranked FirstTier Bank of Louisville, CO. FirstTier is also the 6th failure among the top 10 listed banks this quarter. A medium sized bank, it had approximately $781.5 million in total assets and $722.8 million in total deposits was closed. To protect the insured depositors, the FDIC created Deposit Insurance National Bank of Louisville - a new depository institution chartered by the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS), which will remain open until February 28, 2011.

25th ranked First Community Bank of Taos, NM closed with approximately $2.31 billion in total assets and $1.94 billion in total deposits. Major bank (and 1026th on the list) U.S. Bank, N.A of Minneapolis, MN has agreed to assume all deposits.

The second bank to close this week was Evergreen State Bank of Stoughton, WI. Evergreen ranked 52nd on the most recent list. It had approximately $246.5 million in total assets and $195.2 million in total deposits when it was closed. 2642nd ranked McFarland State Bank of McFarland, WI has agreed to assume all deposits.

Small banks continue to fall victim as the Oklahoman State Banking Department, along with the FDIC, closed The First State Bank of Camargo, OK. First State Bank ranked 3047th on the list suggesting a stable despite having a very small asset base of 43.5 million and $40.3 million in total deposits. As was the case for a previous closing however, we can see how quickly one or two actions can turn things around. Based upon the estimated $20.1 million in estimate losses to the FDIC insurance fund it is evident these assets were greatly overvalued and the bank was, in fact, highly insolvent. 1886th ranked Bank 7 of Oklahoma City, OK agreed to assume the deposits of the one branch bank.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Two Top 10 Banks Among This Week's Failures

This week, two of the 10 riskiest commercial banks in the U.S. were taken over by regulators. Additionally, the first larger bank, one with over $1 billion in total assets, in almost three months failed.

6th ranked Enterprise Banking Company of McDonough, GA closed with approximately $100.9 million in total assets and $95.5 million in total deposits. No bidder was found willing to purchase the bank's assets and to assume the deposits. As a result, to protect the insured depositors, the FDIC created Deposit Insurance National Bank (DINB) of McDonough. This is a new depository institution chartered by the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS). It will remain open until January 28, 2011. Unlike normal bank closings, this will result in account holder being encouraged to withdraw their money or they will receive a check and the account will be closed.

10th ranked The Bank of Asheville of Asheville, NC has been known to be struggling for some time. It was a repeat member of this list and had approximately $195.1 million in total assets and $188.3 million in total deposits when it closed. First Bank (1125th) of Troy, NC has agreed to assume all deposits.

Falling just short of the current list, 53rd ranked CommunitySouth Bank & Trust of Easley, SC was the largest bank to fail this week. It had approximately $440.6 million in total assets and $402.4 million in total deposits. They were acquired by CertusBank, N.A. of Charlotte, NC. CertusBank is a newly-chartered bank subsidiary of Blue Ridge Holdings, Inc. of Charlotte, North Carolina. Blue Ridge Holdings was set up last fall to take advantage of the current banking crisis. In the application the bank suggested that it could raise up to $1 billion in equity.

In one of the largest failures in recent months, United Western Bank of Denver, CO was closed this week with approximately $2.05 billion in total assets and $1.65 billion in total deposits. United Western was regulated by the Office of Thift Supervision (OTS) and, as such, was not a part of the ranking system. Stable, but not stellar, First-Citizens Bank & Trust Co. (926th) of Raleigh, NC has agreed to assume all deposits.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Bank of the Ozarks Continues to Feed on Failed Banks

36th ranked Oglethorpe Bank was the first bank to close this week. Based in Brunswick, GA this small bank of approximately $230.6 million in total assets and $212.7 million in total deposits was acquired by 3060th ranked Bank of the Ozarks based in Little Rock, AR. Oglethorpe Bank was the 5th bank acquired to be acquired by the Bank of the Ozarks since March of last year. Previous banks include: Unity National Bank, Chestatee State Bank, Horizon Bank and Woodlands Bank.

Friday, January 7, 2011

2 Failures to Start of the New Year

The "honor" of the first bank to fail in 2011 belongs to First Commercial Bank of Florida based in Orlando. First Commercial Bank was rated as the single bank most likely to have failed on the entire list. It had approximately $598.5 million in total assets and $529.6 million in total deposits was closed. First Southern Bank (rated 1557th) of Boca Raton, FL has agreed to assume all deposits and acquired most of the assets. In addition, they have entered into a loss sharing agreement with the FDIC.

The second bank to fail this week is Legacy Bank of Scottsdale, AZ. This Legacy Bank ranked as the 113th least sound on the most recent list. Another Legacy Bank, that one located in Milwaukee, WI ranks 3rd and yet remains in business at this time. Legacy Bank had approximately $150.6 million in total assets and $125.9 million in total deposits was closed. It was acquired by Enterprise Bank & Trust of St. Louis, MO raising their asset level to over $2.5 billion, a roughly 6% increase.

Friday, December 17, 2010

6 More Closures in What Might be the Final Fed Friday of 2010

If regulator actions around Thanksgiving are any guideline, the approaching two holiday weekends suggest that this week may be the last Fed Friday of the year. This week 3 banks in the Top 40, two of which were in the top 10, were closed by regulators.

United Americas Bank, N.A. finally succumbed to regulators this week. The Atlanta based bank ranked 2nd on the most recent list. United Americas Bank had approximately $242.3 million in total assets and $193.8 million in total deposits was closed. State Bank and Trust Company (336th) of Macon, GA has assumed all deposits. United Americas Bank is the 10th failed bank acquired by State Bank and Trust.

Also among the nation's riskiest banks, 7th ranked The Bank of Miami, N.A. of Coral Gables, FL closed this week. It had approximately $448.2 million in total assets and $374.2 million in total deposits was closed. 1st United Bank (3226th) of Boca Raton, FL has taken over the deposits and branch operations.

23rd ranked Chestatee State Bank of Dawsonville, GA with approximately $244.4 million in total assets and $240.5 million in total deposits was closed. Bank of the Ozarks (3061st) of Little Rock, AR has agreed to assume all deposits. Chestatee State Bank is the 4th bank acquired to be acquired by Bank of the Ozarks. Previously acquired were Horizon Bank, Woodlands Bank, and Unity National Bank raising total assets for the firm to approximately $3.4 billion.

177th ranked, Community National Bank of Lino Lakes, MN with approximately $31.6 million in total assets and $28.8 million in total deposits was closed. Farmers & Merchants Savings Bank (4185th) of Manchester, IA, has agreed to assume all deposits.

First Southern Bank of Batesville, AR with approximately $191.8 million in total assets and $155.8 million in total deposits was closed. Southern Bank (2764th) of Poplar Bluff, MO has agreed to assume nearly all deposits.

The closing of this bank came as something of a surprise to The Bank Blog as it had a ranking well into the thousands. It was recently discovered that First Southern was the victim of a fraudulent purchase of $22 million in fake bonds. With a capitalization rate of about 10% this fraud easily pushed the bank from well capitalized to having negative equity, forcing regulators to take immediate action. It also leaves The Bank Blog asking one very important question: Why would any bank buy one bond or series of bonds totaling such a significant portion of their assets?

An OTS regulated savings bank, Appalachian Community Bank of McCaysville, GA also closed this week. It had approximately $68.2 million in total assets and $76.4 million in total deposits. 1263rd ranked, Peoples Bank of East Tennessee headquartered in Madisonville, TN has agreed to assume all deposits.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Two Small Banks Leadoff December Failures

After 3 weeks of calm in the banking sector, 2 more banks have fallen to Fed Friday's axe. On Nov. 25th, The Bank Blog reported that the number of problem banks had risen in the new forecasts. The relatively lower rankings of the first two firms to fail this month appear to be consistent with that prediction.

70th ranked Paramount Bank of Farmington Hills, MI failed with approximately $252.7 million in total assets and $213.6 million in total deposits. Level One Bank (4763rd) also of Farmington Hills has agreed to nearly all deposits.

The closing of 145th ranked Earthstar Bank of Southampton, PA highlights how banking problems may be spreading further down the list then previously anticipated. Earthstar had approximately $112.6 million in total assets and $104.5 million in total deposits when closed. OTS regulated Polonia Bank of Huntingdon Valley, PA has agreed to assume all deposits.

Previous failures were isolated to the weakest 1.5% of all commercial banks. On the previous list a bank at the same rank as Earthstar would have had a roughly 23% chance of facing closure in the subsequent year. Now, that level has increase to 40%. While most banks remain sound, this suggests that there are more borderline banks then previously thought and that there is likely to be a higher number of failures for some time to come.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

The Nov. 2010 Top 40

Despite a number of additional bank failures over the last 3 months and a slight improvement overall in the health of the banking sector, a large number of banks continue to struggle. In fact, the number of problem banks increased to 860 in the current quarter. This is the largest level of problem banks seen since 1993.

With all this in mind, it is time for a new Top 40 listing. The Bank Blog has refined a few of it's measures which should improve model predictability. Expected failure rates are roughly 20% higher on average for banks on the list. Returning banks from the prior list are in bold and closed banks are in italics.

1. FIRST COMMERCIAL BANK OF FLORIDA of ORLANDO, FL
2. UNITED AMERICAS BANK, N.A. of Atlanta, GA
3. LEGACY BANK of MILWAUKEE, WI
4. ALL AMERICAN BANK of DES PLAINES, IL
5. FIRSTIER BANK of LOUISVILLE, CO
6. ENTERPRISE BANKING COMPANY of McDonough, GA
7. THE BANK OF MIAMI, N.A. of CORAL GABLES, FL
8. SOUTHERN COMMERCE BANK, N.A. of TAMPA, FL
9. THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF OLATHE of OLATHE, KS
10. THE BANK OF ASHEVILLE of ASHEVILLE, NC
11. CENTRUST BANK, N.A. of NORTHBROOK, IL
12. BANK OF LAS VEGAS of LAS VEGAS, NV
13. NORTH GEORGIA BANK of WATKINSVILLE, GA
14. MONTGOMERY BANK & TRUST of Ailey, GA
15. THE BANK OF COMMERCE of WOOD DALE, IL
16. THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF FLORIDA of MILTON, FL
17. MCINTOSH STATE BANK of Jackson, GA
18. SUNRISE BANK OF ARIZONA of PHOENIX, AZ
19. AMERICAN TRUST BANK of Roswell, GA
20. MICHIGAN COMMERCE BANK of ANN ARBOR, MI
21. THE FIRST STATE BANK of Stockbridge, GA
22. FIRST GUARANTY BANK AND TRUST COMPANY of JACKSONVILLE, FL
23. CHESTATEE STATE BANK of Dawsonville, GA
24. WESTERN SPRINGS NATIONAL BANK AND TRUST of Western Springs, IL
25. FIRST COMMUNITY BANK of Taos, NM
26. HABERSHAM BANK of Clarkesville, GA
27. COMMUNITYONE BANK, N.A. of Asheboro, NC
28. PISGAH COMMUNITY BANK of Asheville, NC
29. THE ROYAL PALM BANK OF FLORIDA of Naples, FL
30. FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF CENTRAL FLORIDA of Winter Park, FL
31. FIRST SOUND BANK of Seattle, WA
32. FIRST CHOICE COMMUNITY BANK of Dallas, GA
33. OPTIMUMBANK of Plantation, FL
34. BUILDERS BANK of Chicago, IL
35. FIRST COMMERCIAL BANK OF TAMPA BAY of Tampa, FL
36. OGLETHORPE BANK of Brunswick, GA
37. CITIZENS BANK OF EFFINGHAM of Springfield, GA
38. THE BRAND BANKING COMPANY of Lawrenceville, GA
39. 1ST COMMERCE BANK of North Las Vegas, NV
40. CANYON NATIONAL BANK of Palm Springs, CA


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