Tag Archives: FDIC

This year's failed-bank tally has risen to 80 with the closings of four more lenders over the weekend. Piedmont Community Bank in Georgia was picked up by State Bank and Trust Company. Country Bank in Illinois has been taken over by Blackhawk Bank & Trust. In Cranford, New Jersey, First State Bank has now become part of New York's Northfield Bank. Blue Ridge Savings Bank in North Carolina was absorbed by the Bank of North Carolina.

The FDIC has launched a suit against 11 executives of former Georgia-based Alpha Bank & Trust hoping to recover $23.92 million in damages as a result of the bank's ""failure to use ordinary care and gross negligence."" The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance closed Alpha Bank & Trust in October 2008 after less than 30 months of operation, making it the fastest-failing bank between 1992 and 2008. The filing specifically targets 13 commercial loans, which the FDIC says borrowers had no ability to repay.

Banking regulators in the states of Minnesota and Missouri stepped in over the weekend to shut down community-based lenders in each of their respective states. These latest two closings bring the number of insured institutions on the FDIC's failed-bank list to 76 for the 2011 calendar year. The RiverBank in Wyoming, Minnesota, had been in operation for more than a century but the latest real estate downturn proved to be too much for the local community fixture. Security Bank in Ellington, Missouri, was also closed.

Speaking on behalf of the Financial Stability Oversight Council, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner made recommendations before the Senate Banking Committee on reforming the housing finance system. Specifically, Geithner called for establishing national standards for mortgage servicers, which the committee believes will ""realign incentives and help reestablish confidence in the integrity of the housing market."" Geithner also stressed the importance of reducing the government's role in the housing market.

The Texas Department of Banking and the FDIC seized control of First International Bank in Plano, Texas, over the weekend. The closing is expected to cost the FDIC's insurance fund $53.8 million and brings the agency's failed-bank tally to 74 for the 2011 calendar year. The FDIC brokered a deal with Houston, Texas' American First National Bank to take over the failed institution and purchase essentially all of its assets.

State and federal regulators stepped in to close the doors on two community-based lenders over the weekend - one in California and one in Virginia pushing this year's failed bank tally to 73. Citizens Bank of Northern California was acquired by Tri Counties Bank out of Chico, California. Bank of the Commonwealth in Norfolk, Virginia was the larger of the two closings. It was picked up by North Carolina's Southern Bank and Trust Company.

At a Senate hearing titled, ""New Ideas to Address the Glut of Foreclosed Properties,"" industry experts shared varying opinions on the concept of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac conducting bulk sales of REOs to investors, but most agreed that long-term investors from the private sector should be part of the solution. One analyst with Amherst Securities says investors are the only potential buyers for many distressed homes likely to hit the market over the next five to six years.

Gerner & Kearns, Co., L.P.A. (G&K) recently announced that it has been designated by the FDIC as outside counsel in the states of Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and Michigan. The firm's practice areas include foreclosure, bankruptcy, evictions, origination and REO closings, loss mitigation, and commercial litigation with respect to the industry's residential and commercial portfolios.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) appointed the FDIC receiver of the First National Bank of Florida late Friday evening, making it the 71st FDIC-insured institution to go under this year. The OCC said it acted after finding that the bank ""had experienced substantial dissipation of assets and earnings due to unsafe or unsound practices."" CharterBank out of Georgia agreed to take over the failed bank's operations.

State and federal regulators on Friday closed the doors on two Georgia lenders, bringing the number of names on the FDIC's failed-bank list to 70 for the 2011 calendar year. The state of Georgia's banking industry has been especially hard-hit by the real estate and economic downturns. It's been home to the most bank failures since the crisis set in, with 19 institutional closings over the last eight-and-a-half months. Patriot Bank of Georgia in Cumming and CreekSide Bank in Woodstock are the latest casualties.