Regulators seize five banks, doubling total for year to date

State and federal regulators shut down five banks on Friday, including two with more than $1 billion in assets.

The biggest institution to be declared insolvent was Charter Bank in Santa Fe, N.M., which was closed by the Office of Thrift Supervision. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was appointed as receiver, and arranged for a newly formed subsidiary of Beal Bank to take over Charter's eight branches, its $851.5 million in deposits and nearly all of its $1.2 billion in assets.

The FDIC and Beal Bank, based in Plano, Tex., entered into a loss-sharing deal on $805.5 million of those assets.

The Office of Thrift Supervision had issued Charter a cease-and-desist in November, giving it until this month to raise new capital and correct other deficiencies.

The Oregon Division of Finance and Corporate Securities shut down Columbia River Bank, in The Dalles, Ore. The FDIC, as receiver, lined up Columbia State Bank -- an unrelated institution in Tacoma, Wash. -- to assume the failed institution's 21 branches, $1 billion in deposits and $1.1 billion in assets.

Columbia State Bank paid a 1 percent premium for the deposits. It also entered into a loss-sharing deal with the FDIC on $697.4 million of the acquired assets.

Columbia River Bank had been operating since last February under regulatory orders calling for it to boost its capital levels and take other steps to improve its soundness.

The other three banks that went under Friday were Evergreen Bank in Seattle, Premier American Bank in Miami and the Bank of Leeton, in Leeton, Mo.

Umpqua Bank, of Roseburg, Ore., took over Evergreen Bank's seven branches, along with its $439.4 million in deposits and $488.5 million in total assets. It agreed to pay a 1 percent premium for the deposits.

The FDIC and Umpqua will share losses on $379.5 million of Evergreen's assets.

A newly formed company took over Premier American's four branches, $326.3 million in deposits and $350.9 million in assets. The new company, called Premier American Bank N.A., is a subsidiary of Bond Street Holdings LLC, an entity set up last year to acquire banking franchises. Its officers include Daniel Healy, former chief financial officer of North Fork Bancorporation Inc., and Vincent Tese, former New York superintendent of banks.

The FDIC and the newly chartered bank will share in any losses on $300 million of the acquired assets.

Sunflower Bank N.A., of Salina, Kan., acquired Bank of Leeton's lone branch, and its $20.4 million in deposits. Sunflower paid a 0.59 percent premium for the deposits.

The FDIC retained Bank of Leeton's $20.1 million in assets for later disposition. It said that all five bank closings would cost its deposit insurance fund an estimated $531.7 million.

The latest failures bring the total so far this year to nine, compared with three in the same period of 2009.