Three more US banks bust bringing year total to 123

[Naveed Yaseen]

WASHINGTON: Regulators seized three more US banks on Friday, bringing the total number of bank failures this year to 123, the highest annual level since 1992.

Bank regulators closed Orion Bank of Naples, Fla, Century Bank, Federal Savings Bank of Sarasota, Fla and Pacific Coast National Bank of San Clemente, California.

The failures on Friday are estimated to cost the FDIC’s insurance fund a total of $986.4 million. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said Orion Bank had total assets of $2.7 billion and total deposits of about $2.1 billion. The 23 branches of Orion Bank will reopen on Saturday as branches of Lafayette, Louisiana-based Iberia bank, the FDIC said. Century Bank had total assets of $728 million and total deposits of about $631 million. Century Bank, FSB’s 11 branches also will reopen on Saturday as branches of Iberia bank. Pacific Coast National Bank had total assets of $134.4 million and total deposits estimated at $130.9 million, according to the FDIC. It had two branches, which will reopen on Monday as branches of Sunwest Bank of Tustin, California.

FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair has said the pace of bank failures will remain elevated through next year, especially as the commercial real estate sector continues to suffer.

Last year, 25 US banks failed, compared to just three in all of 2007. The FDIC said depositors of the failed banks can continue to access their money by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards. The FDIC insurance fund’s balance, which is used to insure bank accounts up to $250,000, went negative at the end of the third quarter, drained by a rising tide of bank failures.

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