Surprise Failure

In a surprising turn of events, 644th-ranked Allendale County Bank of Fairfax, South Carolina, was closed on Friday by the South Carolina State Board of Financial Institutions. Allendale County Bank was not without its problems, having struggled to stay profitable for years. It was under a consent order with regulators in 2013 and the victim of of corporate theft by a bank teller in 2012. which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. The approximately $54.5 million in total assets of the former bank were acquired by Palmetto State Bank (6197th) of Hampton, South Carolina, to assume all of the deposits of Allendale County Bank. The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $17.1 million.

The Winter Top 40

The Bank Blog has ranks the Top 40 most likely to fail, regulated, deposit taking banks in the United States. We would also like to caution our readers not to infer that currently listed banks or those leaving the list are now safe. While the overall likelihood of failure has fallen, distressed banks may not prove to be the best banking partners.

Only returning banks from the prior list are listed in bold and newly failed banks are listed in italics. 



1. THE NATIONAL REPUBLIC BANK OF CHICAGO of CHICAGO, IL  
2. EASTERN SAVINGS BANK of HUNT VALLEY, MD  
3. AZTECAMERICA BANK of BERWYN, IL 
4. FIRSTSECURE BANK AND TRUST CO. of PALOS HILLS, IL
5. ENTERPRISE BANK OF SOUTH CAROLINA of EHRHARDT, SC
6. CECIL BANK of ELKTON, MD
7. BEACH COMMUNITY BANK of FORT WALTON BEACH, FL
8. SLAVIE FEDERAL SAVINGS BANK of BEL AIR, MD
9. PARK CITIES BANK of DALLAS, TX
10. THE PEOPLES BANK of COVINGTON, GA
11. CITY NATIONAL BANK OF NEW JERSEY of NEWARK, NJ
12. AMERICAN METRO BANK of CHICAGO, IL 
13. THE BANK OF GEORGIA of PEACHTREE CITY, GA
14. THE COLUMBIA SAVINGS BANK of CINCINNATI, OH
15. FIRST SOUTHERN BANK of PATTERSON, GA
16. CAPITOL CITY BANK & TRUST COMPANY of ATLANTA, GA
17. INDEPENDENT BANKERS' BANK OF FLORIDA of LAKE MARY, FL
18. CORNERSTONEBANK of ATLANTA, GA
19. EASTSIDE COMMERCIAL BANK of CONYERS, GA
20. FIRST CITY BANK OF FLORIDA of FORT WALTON BEACH, FL
21. SUNRISE BANK OF ALBUQUERQUE of ALBUQUERQUE, NM
22. ADVANTAGE BANK of LOVELAND, CO 

23. GUARANTY BANK of BROWN DEER, WI
24. FIRST CORNERSTONE BANK of KING OF PRUSSIA, PA
25. SECURANT BANK & TRUST of MILWAUKEE, WI
26. STATE BANK OF HERSCHER of HERSCHER, IL  
27. CENTRUST BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION of NORTHBROOK, IL
28. LEGACY STATE BANK of LOGANVILLE, GA
29. BANK OF EASTMAN of EASTMAN, GA
30. BANK OF LAS VEGAS of LAS VEGAS, NV
31. OPTIMUMBANK of PLANTATION, FL 
32. THE HERITAGE BANK of HINESVILLE, GA 
33. GREENCHOICE BANK, FSB of CICERO, IL 
34. MICHIGAN COMMERCE BANK of ANN ARBOR, MI
35. GWINNETT COMMUNITY BANK of DULUTH, GA
36. PBI BANK of LOUISVILLE, KY
37. FIRST COMMUNITY BANK OF CRAWFORD COUNTY   VAN BUREN, AR
38. HOMETOWN NATIONAL BANK of LONGVIEW, WA
39.  SUPERIOR BANK of HAZELWOOD, MO  
40.  ONE BANK & TRUST, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION of LITTLE ROCK, AR


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Time Ran Out for Millennium Bank

Just off the list at 49th, Millennium Bank, National Association of Sterling, Virginia, was closed today by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The approximately $130.3 million in total asset bank was acquired by WashingtonFirst Bank (1018th) of Reston, Virginia. They also assumed $121.7 million in total deposits. The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be a scant $7.7 million.

Also this week, 146th ranked Vantage Point Bank of Horsham, Pennsylvania, was closed today by state regulators. First Choice Bank (2624th) of Mercerville has acquired the $63.5 million in total assets and $62.5 million in total deposits of the former bank. The FDIC estimates that the cost to the DIF will be $8.5 million.

A Late Failure

Late last Friday, 82nd-ranked Syringa Bank of Boise, Idaho was closed by state regulators. The approximately $153.4 million in total assets and $145.1 million in total deposits bank has been acquired by Sunwest Bank of Irvine, California. The Bank Blog has estimated Syringa Bank's odds of failure within the year at 17.8%. The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $4.5 million. 

Number One Fails

It comes as no surprise that The Bank of Union based in El Reno, Oklahoma was closed Friday by the Oklahoma State Banking Department. This relative newcomer to the Top 40 lists held the top ranking on our list of the nation's riskiest banks. The Bank of Union had approximately $331.4 million in total assets, of which BancFirst (943st) of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma has agreed to purchase approximately $225.5 million. In addition BancFirst will assume all of the approximately $328.8 million in total deposits of the failed bank. This is second bank closing of the year. The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $70.0 million.

Author's Note: Our apologies for the delay in posting. Weather conditions in the northeast and a new canine have things slowed down.

First Failure of the New Year

In what is expected to be a more stable year in banking going forward, there are nonetheless some that are too risky to continue operating. Today, the twenty-seventh ranked bank on the list, DuPage National Bank of West Chicago, Illinois, was closed by regulators. Republic Bank (1633rd) of Chicago based in Oak Brook, Illinois has acquired the approximately $61.7 million in total assets and $59.6 million in total deposits of the former DuPage National Bank. Costs of the failure were minimal as the FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $1.6 million.

Bank Failures in 2013

In the years leading up to the Great Recession bank failures were almost unheard of.  Then, in 2008, 26 banks were seized with many (IndyMac and Washington Mutual) making headline news. It took until 2010 for the number of failures to peak at 157 and it has been coming down slowly ever since. Thankfully, this year has seen fewer banks shut down than in any year since, 24.

Most banks have always been safe. But the Top 40 continue to show some of the most dangerous banks still out there. Perhaps the best way of describing this level of risk is to look at our projections for the 40th ranked bank in recent years:

Fall 2013: Cornerstone Bank of Duluth, Ga. has about a 37% chance of closing in the next year.
Fall 2012: Golden State Bank of Upland, Ca. had about a 54% chance. Today it is 6.6% (still risky by banking standards)
Fall 2011: Idaho Banking Company of Boise, ID at 76% (now 29%)

As you can see, the overall level of risk has fallen. But risky banks tend to take years to recover, if they ever do. As such, The Bank Blog intends to keep making new quarterly lists for some time to come. As banks fail, we will provide recaps as well. However, there will no longer be weekly notes when there are no failures as that is now the majority of weeks.

The Bank Blog