Bank failures hit 106 for year; many more are weak

AP ^ | 2009-10-24 | Daniel Wagner

[rabscuttle385]

WASHINGTON (AP) — It's a big number that only tells part of the story. The number of banks that have failed so far this year topped 100 on Friday — hitting 106 by the end of the day — the most in nearly two decades. But the trouble in the banking system from bad loans and the recession goes even deeper.

Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of other banks remain open even though they are as weak as many that have been shuttered. Regulators are seizing banks slowly and selectively — partly to avoid inciting panic and partly because buyers for bad banks are hard to find.

Going slow buys time. An economic recovery could save some banks that would otherwise go under. But if the recovery is slow and smaller banks' finances get even worse, it could wind up costing even more.

This year's 106 bank failures are the most in any year since 181 collapsed in 1992 at the end of the savings-and-loan crisis. On Friday, regulators took over three small Florida banks — Partners Bank and Hillcrest Bank Florida, both of Naples, and Flagship National Bank in Bradenton — along with four elsewhere: American United Bank of Lawrenceville, Ga., Bank of Elmwood in Racine, Wis., Riverview Community Bank in Otsego, Minn., and First Dupage Bank in Westmont, Ill.

[rabscuttle385]

Failed Bank Information for First DuPage Bank, Westmont, IL

Failed Bank Information for Riverview Community Bank, Otsego, MN

Failed Bank Information for Bank of Elmwood, Racine, WI

Failed Bank Information for Flagship National Bank, Bradenton, FL

Failed Bank Information for Hillcrest Bank Florida, Naples, FL

Failed Bank Information for American United Bank, Lawrenceville, GA

Failed Bank Information for Partners Bank, Naples, FL

[rabscuttle385]

*Ping!*

[griswold3]

Does anyone have the number of branches all of these failed banks had?
Even though the number of bank ‘institutional’ failures is 106, the total number of branches is of interest to me.

[pallis]

Just think. With an intelligent, free enterprise oriented administration in charge, this would have been a short recession, already turned around, and banks would be recovering, along with the dollar, along with jobs. The US would be leading the world out of this mess, instead of dragging the world down in our decent to Third World status. But, that is just wishful thinking. We must endure the Communist experiment, and eventually lose everything.

[griswold3]

http://market-ticker.org/archives/1541-More-FDIC-Malfeasance-43%25-Loss.html

It’s not just the Obama administration that is clueless. It’s institutional corruption in fact.

[Newtoidaho]

I went to the store to buy a toaster, they asked me if I wanted the free bank that comes with it.

[GOPJ]

I was with two of the banks that failed in Florida ( not this latest bunch - but this year). Both banks had branches in other cities. I’d like to know the answer to your question too.

[javachip]

The links in rabscuttle385's #1 either report the number of branches or have links to the press releases for the bank closures which have the number of branches.

Here's the complete list of bank closures from the FDIC. The list has links to the "Failed Bank Information" page for each bank. If the # of branches isn't there, it may be in the press release, which is linked from the information page.

It'll be a bit tedious to develop the number of branches from the failure list, but I don't know of a simpler way to get the information than to sift through the releases.

There is a 'Contact Us' link at the bottom of the FDIC home page. If enough people asked, they might add a column reporting the number of branches to the failed bank list.

[logician2u]

You might be interested in this list of all US banks sorted by the "Texas ratio" which was developed by Gerard Cassidy after the recession of the '80s. It offers a pretty good way of identifying which banks are teetering on the brink. Anything over 100 is high-risk territory.

Here are the Texas ratios for these seven as of Q2 '09 -- the latest quarter reported by FDIC:

• First Dupage Bank - 242
• Riverview Community Bank - 238
• Bank of Elmwood - 180
• Flagship National Bank - 259
• Hillcrest Bank Florida - 286
• American United Bank - 161
• Partners Bank - 393

Next quarter the list ought to be somewhat smaller. In fact, I would guess that a number of those near the top of Chris Brunner's first list of last December aren't anywhere to be found on the current list. (Not to say that they've improved their finances, either.)