AP/ July 17, 2010, 10:54 PM

Regulators Shut 4 Banks in Md., Okla., N.Y.

Regulators on Friday shut down banks in Maryland, Oklahoma and New York, lifting to 90 the number of U.S. bank failures this year.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said it was appointed receiver of Bay National Bank and Ideal Federal Savings Bank, both based in Baltimore. Bay National Bank had $282.2 million in assets and $276.1 million in deposits as of March 31. Ideal Federal Savings Bank had $6.3 million in assets and $5.8 million in deposits.

The FDIC also took over Home National Bank in Blackwell, Okla., with $644.5 million in assets and $560.7 million in deposits, and USA Bank in Port Chester, N.Y., with $193.3 million in assets and $189.9 million in deposits.

Bay National Bank's deposits will be assumed by Bay Bank, FSB, based in Lutherville, Md., the FDIC said. Its branches will reopen Monday.

The FDIC approved the payout of the insured deposits of Ideal Federal Savings Bank after failing to find another institution to take over its operations.

RCB Bank in Claremore, Okla., will assume Home National Bank's deposits, the FDIC said, while Enterprise Bank & Trust agreed to buy $260.8 million of the bank's assets. New Century Bank in Phoenixville, Pa., agreed to assume USA Bank's deposits and most of its assets.

The closures bring to three the number of bank failures this year in Maryland. Bay National Bank's failure is expected to cost the deposit insurance fund $17.4 million, while Ideal Federal Savings Bank's closure is expected to cost the fund $2.1 million.

Home National Bank's failure will cost the fund an estimated $78.7 million. The cost of USA Bank's closure to the fund is expected to be $61.7 million.

With 90 closures nationwide so far this year, the pace of bank failures far outstrips that of 2009, which was already a brisk year for shutdowns. By this time last year, regulators had closed 45 banks. The pace has accelerated as banks' losses mount on loans made for commercial property and development.

The number of bank failures is expected to peak this year and be slightly higher than the 140 that fell in 2009. That was the highest annual tally since 1992, at the height of the savings and loan crisis. The 2009 failures cost the insurance fund more than $30 billion. Twenty-five banks failed in 2008, the year the financial crisis struck with force, and only three succumbed in 2007.

As losses have mounted on loans made for commercial property and development, the growing bank failures have sapped billions of dollars out of the deposit insurance fund. It fell into the red last year, and its deficit stood at $20.7 billion as of March 31.

The number of banks on the FDIC's confidential "problem" list jumped to 775 in the first quarter from 702 three months earlier, even as the industry as a whole had its best quarter in two years.

A majority of institutions posted profit gains in the January-March quarter. But many small and midsized banks are likely to continue to suffer distress in the coming months and years, especially from soured loans for office buildings and development projects.

The FDIC expects the cost of resolving failed banks to total around $60 billion from 2010 through 2014.

The agency mandated last year that banks prepay about $45 billion in premiums, for 2010 through 2012, to replenish the insurance fund.

Depositors' money - insured up to $250,000 per account - is not at risk, with the FDIC backed by the government.
By AP Business Writer Stevenson Jacobs
© 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
8 Comments Add a Comment
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Lickedy says:
Whatever you do, don't blame the fox for watching the hen house ! Fanny and Freddie are doing Ok !
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KeithDrippingSprings says:
Scoundrels and Thieves, all of them working the next day with a raise. Blaming everyone but themselves for their downfall.

Remember guys four banks being shut down was the old number for a really bad banking year. We are at 90 now and as we move toward the end of the year the regulators will accelerate the numbers shut down per week. We should reach about 260 banks for the year.

It is your money, there is no them it is all us and we are getting screwed every day. If you are out of work, find out what the laws are in your state. Declare bankruptcy and conserve all the cash you can. The banks are walking from many of their investments because they are scared. You can walk from your debt too. It is just business, a debt is not a moral obligation.
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choiceshaveconsequences replies:
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On point to the story, these people need to talk to their bankers about how to resolve their financial shortfalls and still satisfy the lienholders. In regard to this specific comment, First and foremost, a debt is a legal obligation. If you believe in abiding by the law, you honor your debt as a matter of law. A debt remains a moral obligation, a promise you made to honor your word in exchange for something you valued enough to give your word. There have been times in my life that it would have been financially beneficial to me to walk away from my indebtedness. It never happened. My word may be worthless to others, but it has to mean something to me. I may be old, poor and ugly, and I may not be a banker, a rock star, a celebrity or millionaire politician, but my grandchildren don't think I'm a deadbeat, and I am not ashamed of the person whose face in the mirror looks back at me.
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starleo146 says:
When Daddy Bush was President one of his son's, I think Steve, was working with Savings and Loan, and how many failed ? He could have gone to jail but didn't, now Son Bush had a complete Wall street meltdown which caused a deep recession. What is with these Bushes and Banks?????
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nearl451 replies:
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Neil, not Steve.
book_of_wally replies:
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Each Bush presidential term ended with a banking crisis. Coincidence?
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spaceatoms says:
But I can bet that the suits of the banks walked away with millions and claim they they deserved it!
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thanksgreed says:
and the TBTF bunch keeps raping us. At least Scott Brown is happy.
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