Regulators close six banks; toll for January is 15

Regulators shut down six more banks on Friday, pushing the toll for January to 15.

The biggest bank to fail was First Regional Bank, of Los Angeles, which had $2.18 billion in assets. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. arranged for First Citizens Bank & Trust Co., of Raleigh, N.C., to take over First Regional's  eight branches and $1.87 billion in deposits.

First Citizens also acquired $2.17 billion of the failed bank's assets, with $2 billion of that amount subject to a loss-sharing agreement with the government.

First Regional had been operating for nearly a year under an FDIC cease-and-desist order that called for it to boost its capital levels and strengthen its management.

The other closed banks, in order of size, were Community Bank & Trust, of Cornelia, Ga,; Florida Community Bank, of Immokalee, Fla.; First National Bank of Georgia, of Carrolton, Ga.; American Marine Bank, of Bainbridge Island, Wash; and Marshall Bank N.A., of Hallock, Minn.

The FDIC lined up SCBT N.A., of Orangeburg, S.C., to take over Community Bank and Trust's 36 branches and $1.11 billion in deposits. SCBT, the holding company  for South Carolina Bank and Trust, also bought essentially all of the failed bank's $1.21 billion in assets, with $827.7 million of that covered by loss-sharing.

Premier American Bank N.A., of Miami, acquired Florida Community Bank's 11 branches and $795.5 million in deposits. It agreed to pay a premium of 0.4 percent for the deposits.

Premier American also took $499.1 million of Florida Community's assets. The FDIC entered into a loss-sharing deal on $305.4 million of that amount.

It retained roughly $376 million in assets for later disposition.

Community & Southern Bank, a newly chartered institution in Carrolton, Ga., took over the remains of First National Bank of Georgia. It got the failed bank's 11 branches and its $757.9 million in deposits, paying a 1.25 percent premium for that money.

It also took all of First National's $832.6 million in assets, with $607.4 million of that covered by a loss-sharing deal.

Columbia State Bank, of Tacoma, Wash, absorbed American Marine Bank's 11 branches and $308.5 million in deposits. It agreed to pay a 1 percent premium for the deposits.

It also bought all of American Marine's $373.2 million in assets, with $255.1 million subject to loss-sharing.  Columbia State acquired another failed bank last week, taking over Columbia River Bank in Oregon and its $1 billion in deposits.

United Valley Bank, of Cavalier, N.D., took over Marshall Bank's three branches, its $54.7 million in deposits and its $59.9 million in assets. United Valley paid a 7.35 percent premium for the deposits.

The FDIC also agreed to share losses with United Valley on $23.9 million of the failed bank's assets.

The agency said the six bank closings this week would cost its insurance fund an estimated $1.87 billion, with First Regional in Los Angeles accounting for $825.5 million of that total.