Regulators Shut Three More Community Banks

WASHINGTON — Following the largest failure of the year, and the collapse of a small mutual in Pennsylvania, regulators shut three western banks late Friday, bringing the year's failure total to 77.

State regulators closed two institutions owned by Las Vegas-based Community Bancorp. — $1.5 billion-asset Community of Nevada and $158 million-asset Community Bank of Arizona, in Phoenix. The Office of the Comproller of the Currency shut $124 million-asset Union Bank in Gilbert, Ariz.

It was yet another long and bloody night for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. In all, the five failures are expected to cost the FDIC an estimated $3.7 billion.Total failures for 2009 are more than three times their level for all of last year, and predictions that collapses this year will exceed 100 now appear on track.

The parade of failures began with the closure of $13.7 million-asset Dwelling House, a Pittsburgh thrift that had struggled to recover from fraud that drained it of $3 million. Shortly afterward, regulators announced they were closing down $25 billion-asset Colonial Bank in Alabama, the fifth largest failure in U.S. history.

While BB&T bought the deposits for Colonial, the FDIC had trouble finding a buyer for Community of Nevada, which held $1.38 billion in deposits. Instead, the FDIC created a temporary charter —Deposit Insurance National Bank of Las Vegas — to house the failed bank's insured deposits (There were roughly $4 million in uninsured deposits).

The agency sold all $144 million of the Community Bank of Arizona's deposits to MidFirst Bank in Oklahoma City, which also agreed to acquire $125 million of the Phoenix bank's assets.

The FDIC also called on MidFirst to help resolve Union Bank. MidFirst assumed the nonbrokered portion of Union’s $112 million of deposits, which was small compared to the $88 million in brokered deposits the FDIC will pay directly. MidFirst also agreed to acquire $11 million of Union’s assets. Union Bank's failure is expected to cost $61 million.

The FDIC said the temporary Las Vegas charter will remain open for 30 days for Community Bank of Nevada’s customers to access their insured deposits, although the new bank will not hold the failed institution’s brokered funds, certificates of deposits, and retirement accounts, which will be paid directly by the FDIC. Community Bank of Nevada’s failure was estimated to cost $781 million.

Nevada State Bank will provide operational management for the DINB, the agency said.

Meanwhile, MidFirst and the FDIC agreed to share losses on about $55 million of Community Bank of Arizona’s assets. That resolution is estimated to cost $25 million.

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