2nd Bank Closure of the Year

FDIC, regulators shut down two banks

By John Letzing, MarketWatch
Last update: 1:57 a.m. EST Jan. 17, 2009

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and state regulators on Friday shut down banks in Illinois and Washington - the first bank failures of the year and the 26th and 27th since the start of the current credit crisis.

Berkeley, Ill.-based National Bank of Commerce was shut down and he FDIC said Republic Bank of Chicago will assume all of National Bank of Commerce's deposits. The two locations of National Bank of Commerce will reopen Saturday as branches of Republic Bank, the FDIC said.

The last Illinois bank to fail was Eldred-based Meridian Bank, in October, the FDIC said.

National Commerce Bank had total deposits of $402.1 million as of Jan. 7, and total assets of $430.9 million, the FDIC said.
Republic Bank has agreed to buy roughly $366.6 million in National Commerce Bank's assets at a discount of $44.9 million.

The FDIC estimated that the cost of National Commerce Bank's failure to the Deposit Insurance Fund will be $97.1 million.
Also on Friday, the Bank of Clark County, Vancouver, Wash. was shut down and the FDIC was named receiver. The FDIC said Umpqua Bank, based in Roseville, Ore., will assume the insured deposits.

Bank of Clark County had total assets of $446.5 million and total deposits of $366.5 million. At the time of closing, there were approximately $39.3 million in uninsured deposits held in approximately 138 accounts that potentially exceeded the insurance limits. This amount is an estimate that is likely to change once the FDIC obtains additional information from these customers.

Umpqua will not assume the approximately $117.8 million in brokered deposits. The FDIC will pay the brokers directly for the amount of their insured funds. End of Story

John Letzing is a MarketWatch reporter based in San Francisco.

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