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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Commerce Bank of Southwest Florida in Fort Myers, Florida was closed by financial regulators on Friday, becoming the 124th bank to fail in 2009 and the 12th in the state of Florida. However, the holding company, Florida Commerce Bancorp, was not included in the closing of the bank or the resulting receivership. All deposit accounts, excluding certain brokered deposits, have been transferred to Central Bank of Stillwater, Minnesota.

ATLANTA -- In the waning days of the Great Recession, the federal government is still jumpstarting the economy and propping up financial markets. It is also trying to sell Dresden Heights, a failed condo development on a noisy freeway ramp next to a Motel 6, a Waffle House and a Do-It-Yourself Pest Control. For more than a year, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has been seeking a buyer for 36 partially built condos it inherited from a high-flying, short-lived Atlanta bank. The agency has been fending off vandals, haggling with architects and uncovering the developer's blunders, all in a bid...

Regulators close two Florida banks and on in California, costing the FDIC $986.4 million. NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Two Florida banks and one in California failed Friday night, bring the 2009 national tally to 123. Regulators closed Century Bank, Federal Savings Bank in Sarasota, Fla., Orion Bank in Naples, Fla., and Pacific Coast National Bank in San Clemente, Calif. Customers of all the failed banks are protected, however. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which has insured bank deposits since the Great Depression, currently covers customer accounts up to $250,000.

United Commercial Bank, a big San Francisco bank with branches in China, was closed by state regulators on Friday and its banking operations were acquired by East West Bancorp Inc, also active in both nations. East West (EWBC.O) said the transaction made it the second-largest independent bank in California. Based in Pasadena, East West has 137 U.S. branches, including offices in New York, Atlanta, Boston and Seattle, and four in China.

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...

Regulators have shut Warren Bank in Warren, Mich., and two small banks in Colorado and Minnesota, boosting the number of failed U.S. banks this year to 98 as loan defaults rise in the worst financial climate in decades. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took over Warren Bank, with about $538 million in assets and $501 million in deposits as of July 31. The Huntington National Bank, based in Columbus, Ohio, agreed to assume the deposits and about $83 million of the assets of the failed bank. The FDIC will retain the remaining assets for later disposition. Warren Bank's six branches...

The International Monetary Fund is open to a plan that would see banks contribute to an insurance policy against a future economic collapse, the agency revealed on Friday. "Considering that the financial sector is creating a lot of systemic risk for the global economy," said the fund's managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, "it is just fair that such a sector would pay some part of its resources to help mitigate the risks that they are creating."

My mother would have understood the implications of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s recent announcement that it is requiring U.S. banks to collectively remit advance payment of some $45 billion in future deposit insurance premiums. As a grade-schooler, I had to clear big purchases with her, even if the cash came from my own piggy bank. "I'll pay for it with my own money," I'd plead when she vetoed some imprudent outlay. "It's still all gotta come out of this one old farm," she would reply. Banks may write the checks for FDIC premiums, but the money really has to...

Georgian Bank, Atlanta, Georgia, was closed today by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with First Citizens Bank and Trust Company, Inc., Columbia, South Carolina, to assume all of the deposits of Georgian Bank. The five branches of Georgian Bank will reopen on Monday as branches of First Citizens Bank. Depositors of Georgian Bank will automatically become depositors of First Citizens Bank. Deposits will continue to be insured by the FDIC, so there is no need...

Regulators close subsidiaries of Irwin Financial Corporation in Kentucky and Indiana at a cost of $850 million to the FDIC. BY BEN ROONEY NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Regulators closed subsidiaries of Irwin Financial Corporation in Kentucky and Indiana Friday, bringing the total number of bank failures this year to 94, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The U.S. added two more banks to its growing list of bank failures Friday, bringing the tally for the year to 91. Regulators shut down Chicago-based Corus Bank (CORS: 0.26, -0.0702, -21.26%) – the second largest bank to fail this year – and turned most of its assets over to MB Financial (MBFI: 17.03, 0.52, 3.15%). The bank, which did much of its business in commercial real-estate loans, had $7 billion in assets and $7 billion in deposits as of June 30, according to a statement issued by the FDIC. The cost to the FDIC’s Deposit Insurance Fund is estimated...

U.S. regulators seized Corus Bank on Friday in the fourth-largest bank failure this year and sold its deposits to MB Financial Bank (MBFI.O). Long controlled by the Glickman family, Chicago-based Corus Bank crumbled under the pressure of bad loans on commercial real estate and condominium developments in Arizona, southern California, southern Florida and Nevada. The seizure of Corus and the failure of two smaller banks announced on Friday brought to 92 the number of shuttered banks in 2009.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Regulators closed Chicago-based Corus Bank N.A. and Woodbury, Minn.-based Brickwell Community Bank on Friday, bringing the number of U.S. bank failures this year to 91 and costing the federal deposit-insurance fund more than $1.7 billion as the credit crisis continues claiming victims.

Regulators close banks in Arizona, Illinois, Iowa and Missouri. BY AMY HAIMERI NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Five small regional banks were closed by regulators on Friday evening, pushing 2009's tally so far to 88 institutions. Of the five failures, two were in Illinois, and there was one each in Arizona, Iowa and Missouri.

For months rumours of share-ramping, market manipulation, excessive loans to their owners and unusual transfers off-shore have been circling Kaupthing, Glitnir and Landsbanki, whose failure last October left 300,000 British customers unable to access their money. It has now become clear that this was no ordinary crash. Iceland's special investigation into "suspicions of criminal activity" at the three banks is likely to stretch from Reykjavik to London, Luxembourg and the British Virgin Islands.

<p>The largest of Friday's three closures announced by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was Affinity Bank, based in Ventura, Calif.</p> <p>Affinity, which had total assets of $1 billion, deposits of $922 million and 10 branches in Northern and Southern California as of July 10, will be taken over by San Diego-based Pacific Western Bank, the FDIC announced.</p>

WASHINGTON – The government insurance fund that protects more than $4.5 trillion in U.S. bank deposits fell to just $10.4 billion at the end of June, as the banking industry continues to struggle with souring loans. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. fund is at its lowest level since mid-1993, during the savings-and-loan crisis. That makes it likely that the government will have to charge banks another special fee to recapitalize its reserves. Officials could also consider borrowing up to $100 billion from the Treasury Department, but they have avoided this option so far.

A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Securities and Exchange Commission to explain why it didn't pursue allegations that Bank of America Corp. executives lied in a proxy statement about bonuses for Merrill Lynch employees.

On Friday, August 21, 2009, ebank, Atlanta, GA was closed by the Office of Thrift Supervision, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was named Receiver. No advance notice is given to the public when a financial institution is closed.

A large Spanish bank has won the bidding for Austin-based Guaranty Financial Group, according to the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News. Federal regulators who have essentially been running Guaranty in recent months have chosen Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria as the buyer. The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News both said that regulators had chosen BBVA, citing unnamed sources close to the negotiations. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is expected to make the announcement Friday. Under the expected scenario, the FDIC will seize Guaranty, then sell most or all of it to BBVA. Guaranty’s financial condition has been deteriorating for...

Bank regulators have a Texas-sized problem on their hands -- though it's easy to see much of the trouble resides farther west. Guaranty Bank, an Austin-based savings institution with $13.5 billion in assets, is expected to be seized by the FDIC by the end of the week. According to multiple reports late Wednesday, Spanish bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya (BBV) has won the bidding for Guaranty.

US banking regulators have asked prospective buyers of Guaranty Financial, a struggling Texas bank with $14bn in assets, to submit bids for the group by Monday, according to people close to the matter. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is helping to manage the attempted sale of Guaranty, which last month said it was likely to join the lengthening list of banks that have failed this year. EDITOR’S CHOICE In depth: US banks - Dec-12 US regulators close Colonial - Aug-15 Colonial BancGroup caught up in probe - Aug-05 Banks make $38bn from overdraft fees - Aug-09 Guaranty’s fate has become...

AN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Colonial BancGroup Inc. became the largest bank failure this year after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation seized the struggling Alabama-based lender Friday and sold it to BB&T Corp. Late Friday, the FDIC announced four other banks had been closed: Community Bank of Las Vegas and its Arizona subsidiary, Community Bank of Arizona; Union Bank, Gilbert, Ariz; and Dwelling House Savings and Loan, Pittsburgh. The Colonial BancGroup deal will knock roughly $2.8 billion off a pool of money, known as the Deposit Insurance Fund, which the FDIC maintains to guarantee bank customer deposits. BB&T /quotes/comstock/13*!bbt/quotes/nls/bbt (BBT 28.23,...

The potential collapse of Colonial BancGroup poses another hazard to the still-shaky housing market: Mortgages could become even harder to get.

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones) -- U.S. bank regulators waited too long to address problems at a Duluth, Ga.-based bank that failed last year and could cost the federal deposit insurance fund an estimated $207 million, government auditors said Monday. The Office of Inspector General for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said in a report that the agency's supervision of Haven Trust Bank was "not effective in identifying and addressing problems early enough." "By the time supervisory actions were taken against the bank, failure was all but inevitable," the IG's office said in the report. Haven Trust failed last December.

Nigeria's central bank said on Friday it was injecting around 400 billion naira ($2.6 billion) into five banks and removing their management because their undercapitalisation posed a risk to the banking system. Central Bank Governor Lamido Sanusi said that Afribank (AFRB.LG), Finbank (FIBP.LG), Intercontinental Bank (INBK.LG), Oceanic Bank (OCBK.LG) and Union Bank (UBNP.LG) would be run as going concerns until new investors could be found to recapitalise them. "The banks have lost their money in bad loans. We have put in money. We have questions about the management, so we have put in new management," Sanusi told a news conference...

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp is taking Colonial BancGroup Inc (CNB.N) into receivership and will sell the struggling lender's branches and deposits to BB&T Corp (BBT.N), Dow Jones said, citing a person familiar with the situation

NEW YORK — Regulators on Friday shut down two banks in Florida, bringing to 71 the number of federally insured banks to fail this year under the weight of the weak economy and rising loan losses. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was appointed receiver of the banks: First State Bank of Sarasota, Fla., and Venice, Fla.-based Community National Bank of Sarasota County. First State Bank had total assets of $463 million and deposits totaling $387 million. Community National Bank had $97 million of assets and $93 million in deposits.

Five banks were closed on Friday, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, bringing the national total number of bank failures to 69 for 2009.

NEW YORK (Fortune) -- Guaranty Bank is hardly a household name. But the Austin, Texas-based thrift's looming failure is shaping up as a big headache for bank supervisors -- not to mention a black eye for Carl Icahn and others in the smart money set. Guaranty (GFG) could be soon seized by the government in what would be the biggest bank failure in a year that has already had 64 of them. Last week, the bank warned investors to expect a federal takeover after regulators forced a writedown of its risky mortgage investments and a bid to raise new capital...

AUSTIN, Texas -- Bank holding company Guaranty Financial Group Inc. said it is "probable it will not be able to continue as a going concern" as it restated results that include an additional $1.45 billion in write-downs. The moves, disclosed in a securities filing Thursday, set the stage for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to take over operations of the company, including more than 160 branches in Texas and California. With about $15 billion in assets, Guaranty could become the biggest federally insured financial firm to fail this year. In May, the banking operations of BankUnited FSB in Coral Gables,...

U.S. regulators closed seven small banks on Friday, a pace matching a one-day total seen earlier in July and bringing the number of failures so far this year to 64. Six of the banks were in Georgia and were subsidiaries of Security Bank Corp, having a total of 20 branches, $2.8 billion in assets and about $2.4 billion in deposits, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said. State Bank and Trust Co of Pinehurst, Georgia, agreed to assume all of the deposits at the six banks, whose branches will reopen under State Bank's name. State Bank will also purchase $2.4 billion...

Two in California, one in Georgia and one in South Dakota - these FDIC closures bring the total number of failed banks in 2009 to 57. BY CATHERINE CLIFFORD NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- State regulators shut down four banks Friday, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said. The bank were: First Piedmont Bank, based in Winder, Ga.; BankFirst, based in Sioux Falls, S.D.; Temecula Valley Bank of Temecula, Calif.; and Vineyard Bank of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. Friday's actions bring the total number of closings for 2009 to 57. . . . . . Friday's failures will cost the FDIC fund nearly...

The survival of one of the nation’s largest commercial lenders, the CIT Group, was thrown into doubt late Wednesday after federal officials rebuffed pleas to rescue the struggling company a second time. Unless a buyer emerges for CIT — a prospect that seems unlikely — the century-old lender could founder, even after it received a $2.33 billion taxpayer-financed bailout in December. The plight of CIT, which provides loans to about a million small and midsize companies, particularly in the sagging retail sector, poses a crucial test of the Obama administration’s attempts to stabilize the nation’s financial industry.

One year after bank's failure, depositors fight on. BY ERIKA CHAVEZ Dozens of IndyMac Federal Bank customers who lost uninsured deposits after the bank's sudden failure last year rallied Monday to draw attention to their continuing plight. Members of the group, which organized online and numbers 250 people throughout California, gathered in front of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's West Coast satellite office in Irvine, braving the heat to make their voices heard. The goal: to persuade FDIC officials to reimburse their lost money and let consumers know that their savings might not be safe, despite the fact that the...

IndyMac died a year ago Saturday, the first major thrift to fail in the financial crisis. Its burial, marked by confusion, chaos, and a relatively sweet deal for a group of private equity titans, is unlikely to happen in the same manner today. The aftermath of IndyMac, since renamed OneWest Bank, is telling, and provides a stark illustration of how much things have changed in the course of a year.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Thermopolis, Wyo.-based Bank of Wyoming was closed by regulators Friday, the 53rd U.S. bank failure of 2009 as the credit crisis continues to claim victims.

Soaring U.S. unemployment and a shrinking economy drove delinquencies on credit card debt and home equity loans to all-time highs in the first quarter as a record number of cash-strapped consumers fell behind on their bills. Delinquencies on the value of all card debt soared to a record 6.60 percent from 5.52 percent in the fourth quarter as more cardholders relied on plastic to meet day-to-day expenses, the American Bankers Association said. Late payments on home equity loans rose to 3.52 percent from 3.03 percent, and on home equity lines of credit climbed to 1.89 percent from 1.46 percent. A...

MACON, Ga. — H. Averett Walker used hot money to turn Security Bank from a sleepy Southern lender into a regional powerhouse. Darrell D. Pittard used hot money to jump-start his brand-new MagnetBank, allowing it to lend hundreds of millions of dollars even though it did not have a single drive-up window or even a customer with a checking account. It is a formula being replicated at banks across the United States. Rather than simply wooing local customers, they have turned to out-of-state brokers who deliver billions of dollars in bulk deposits, widely known as “hot money,” from investors nationwide....

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Six Illinois banks and one bank in Texas were shuttered Thursday as government regulators proposed new rules for private equity firms seeking to take over failed banks. That brought the number of U.S. bank failures this year to 52. That's more than double the 25 which failed in all of 2008 and the three closed in 2007. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was appointed receiver of all seven. The total cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund from the seven closings will be $314.3 million, the FDIC said. The assets of most of the failed banks will be...

7 more banks fail as FDIC seeks stronger rules for buyers of failed banks. BY STEPHEN MANNING and DAVID PITT WASHINGTON (AP) -- Six Illinois banks and one bank in Texas were shuttered Thursday as government regulators proposed new rules for private equity firms seeking to take over failed banks. That brought the number of U.S. bank failures this year to 52. That's more than double the 25 which failed in all of 2008 and the three closed in 2007. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was appointed receiver of all seven. The total cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund from...

NEW YORK (AP) - Regulators on Friday shut down five small banks, boosting to 45 the number of failures this year of federally insured banks. More are expected to succumb in the prolonged recession. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was appointed receiver of the failed banks: Community Bank of West Georgia, based in Villa Rica, Ga.; Neighborhood Community Bank, located in Newnan, Ga.; Horizon Bank in Pine City, Minn.; MetroPacific Bank in Irvine, Calif.; and Mirae Bank in Los Angeles. Community Bank of West Georgia had $199.4 million in assets and $182.5 million in deposits as of May 15. Neighborhood...

38, 39, 40. First National Bank of Anthony, Kansas Southern Community bank of Fayetteville, Georgia Cooperative Bank in Wilmington, North Carolina

Bank of Lincolnwood becomes the 37th bank to be closed by regulators this year. BY BEN ROONEY NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Bank of Lincolnwood was shuttered by Illinois regulators Friday, bringing the number of failed banks this year to 37 and costing the Federal Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s deposit insurance fund $83 million. The two offices of Lincolnwood, Ill.-based bank will reopen Saturday as branches of Republic Bank of Chicago. Bank of Lincolnwood customers will retain their deposit insurance coverage, the FDIC said. As of late last month, Bank of Lincolnwood had total assets of about $214 million and total...

Regulators slapped Greater Atlantic Bank with a prompt corrective action directive, warning the troubled bank that it will be seized if it does not quickly find capital or a merger partner, according to a Wednesday securities filing. The Reston-based bank, a subsidiary of Greater Atlantic Financial Corp. (Pink Sheets: GAFC), has been in hot water with its regulator, the Office of Thrift Supervision, since April 2008, when it was hit with a cease and desist enforcement order. The bank was undercapitalized in the fourth quarter of 2008 and the bank said it was “critically undercapitalized” as of March 31. The...

Posted by Karl Denninger in Regulatory at 08:22 They're Still At It: Bank United And FDIC The Government never ceases to amaze me... BankUnited, a newly chartered federal savings bank, acquired the banking operations, including all of the nonbrokered deposits, of BankUnited, FSB, Coral Gables, Florida, in a transaction facilitated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). As a result of this transaction, BankUnited, FSB, offices and branches will be operated as BankUnited offices and branches. For those who don't follow The Market Ticker closely (or who are new to it and the forum) Tickerforum and Market Ticker readers know...

WASHINGTON (AFP) — US regulators on Thursday shut down BankUnited FSB, an ailing Florida lender, in the largest American bank failure this year. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) said the bank's assets had been acquired by a newly chartered federal savings bank, BankUnited. "BankUnited, the successor institution, will be the largest independent bank in Florida, as was its predecessor (BankUnited, FSB)," FDIC said in a statement. BankUnited's 86 offices will be open Friday during normal business hours. Bank United FSB had assets of 12.80 billion dollars and deposits of 8.6 billion dollars as of May 2. The new BankUnited...

The Office of Thrift Supervision on Thursday closed BankUnited of Coral Gables and appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as receiver. BankUnited was "critically undercapitalized and in an unsafe condition to conduct business," the OTS said in a statement. The bank reported losses of $1.2 billion in 2008. BankUnited had $8.7 billion in deposits and 85 branches, including 23 in Broward County and 16 in Palm Beach County.

Thousands of Home Valley Bank customers recently learned that their Presidential Guarantee accounts have become decidedly less presidential. Instead of paying a promised 3 percent interest yield annually on the special checking accounts, the southern Oregon bank in mid-April unilaterally cut the rate to 2.02 percent. Don't blame us, Home Valley executives said. Blame the FDIC. In February, the federal agency that insures deposits approved a one-time special assessment that will increase the annual charge paid by many Northwest banks by three times or more. That leaves Home Valley and the other 8,300 banks across the country facing a significant...

Regulators seized a Bremerton, Wash., bank late Friday as the financial crisis claimed its 33rd federally insured financial institution of 2009. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. estimated that the failure of Westsound Bank would cost its deposit-insurance fund $108 million. Westsound is the second Washington bank to be closed by regulators so far this year. Westsound had total assets of $334.6 million and total deposits of $304.5 million as of March 31.