Yesterday the FDIC shuttered the 28 branches of the First National Bank of Nevada and the First Heritage Bank. Federal regulators will perform a nifty little magic trick over the weekend, and on Monday, the branches will reopen as Mutual of Omaha Bank. Aren’t bank failures fun?!

As of June 30, the closed banks had total assets of $3.6 billion. That’s down from $4.1 billion six months earlier. Most of the assets are in 1st National while First Heritage accounts for $254 million.

Calls to 1st National were referred by a receptionist to Joe Martony, an executive vice president in Scottsdale, Ariz. Martony didn’t return repeated calls to his office.

In Nevada, 1st National has 10 branches and employs about 350 people. Five of its branches are in Las Vegas, three are in the Reno-Sparks area, one is in Carson City and one is in Laughlin. Notices of the closure were being posted late Friday.

Fifteen 1st National branches are in Arizona, while Newport Beach-based First Heritage has three branches in Southern California.

Customers will be able to access their cash over the weekend by writing checks, or through ATMs and debit cards. Because Mutual of Omaha has purchased the banks in their entirely, all former customers, including those who exceeded FDIC insurance limits, will recover the full value of their accounts.

90 banks remain on the FDIC’s problem list, and chairwoman Sheila Bair has warned us to expect more bank failures—but consumers have absolutely nothing to worry about as long as they keep their accounts within the FDIC’s insurance limits.

FDIC takes over 2 more banks, closing 28 branches [AP]
Two More Banks Fail [The Wall Street Journal]
(AP Photo/Nevada Appeal, Brad Horn)

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