Bank Failures

Adam Fagen

Feds Shut Down Guaranty Bank, Closing Branches In Walmart, Kroger Stores

Last week, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency shut down Guaranty Bank, which also did business as BestBank. While the shutdown and transfer process is supposed to be relatively simple for bank customers, they’re facing long lines at the remaining banks. [More]

FDIC Announces Plan For How To Handle Failed Banks

FDIC Announces Plan For How To Handle Failed Banks

Nearly four years on from the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and a number of other large financial institutions, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is announcing its plan for what will happen the next time a too-big-to-fail bank goes kaput. [More]

FDIC: Fewer Banks At Risk Of Failure

FDIC: Fewer Banks At Risk Of Failure

According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, fewer banks were at risk for failure in the second quarter. This marks the first time the number of institution’s on the FDIC’s endangered banks list has fallen since 2006, and is a sign that the finance industry is stabilizing. [More]

Interactive Graph Of Bank Failures Like Watching Nuclear Impact Zones

Interactive Graph Of Bank Failures Like Watching Nuclear Impact Zones

The one joy of WSJ’s otherwise mirthless interactive graph showing bank failures across the country from Jan ’08 to present is that when you slide the time scroller back and forth, it looks like, as Marketplace’s Paddy Hirsch just tweeted, looks like a series of nuclear impact zones. [More]

100 Bank Failures And Counting!

100 Bank Failures And Counting!

“More banks have failed in 2009 than the rest of the decade combined,” writes Ariel Nelson at CNBC. Today, Partners Bank in Naples, Florida closed its doors, making it the 100th bank to fail this year. Click the link to see a map of where bank failures have happened the most over the past 10 months.

FDIC May Ask Banks For Bailout

FDIC May Ask Banks For Bailout

Due to the record number of bank failures this year, the FDIC is low on funds. Instead of borrowing from the Treasury as they did in the early ’90s savings and loan crisis, regulators have a new idea: asking banks for a bailout.

Banks Once "Too Big To Fail" Now Even Bigger After Meltdown

Banks Once "Too Big To Fail" Now Even Bigger After Meltdown

Remember those banks that the federal government bailed out because they were “too big to fail?” Well…after mergers and bank takeovers (some encouraged by the government) those banks bailed out because they were “too big to fail” now are much bigger. JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America combined now control more than 20% of all bank deposits in the United States.

Ladies & Gentlemen, Your 81st Bank Failure Of The Year

Ladies & Gentlemen, Your 81st Bank Failure Of The Year

Normally we wouldn’t rely on the phrase “third largest bank failure of the year” to impress upon you the seriousness of a situation, but since we’re at our 81st bank failure of 2009, we’re going to go with it. Meet Guaranty Bank of Texas. It has now failed.

Colonial Bank Fails, Assets Bought By BB&T

Colonial Bank Fails, Assets Bought By BB&T

Just when we though the financial crisis might be over…or starting to be over, at least…came two more bank failures today. The larger one was Colonial BancGroup of Montgomery, Alabama. Colonial is the sixth largest bank failure in American history. The FDIC swooped in to save the day, and competitor BB&T will buy the bank’s assets.

What Types Of Accounts Are FDIC Insured? Are My Investments Safe?

What Types Of Accounts Are FDIC Insured? Are My Investments Safe?

What accounts are FDIC-insured? Which aren’t? Now that a fund that markets itself as the world’s “first and longest running money fund,” suddenly found itself in the nearly unprecedented position of having to “break the buck,” we thought we’d help clarify. Here we go:

Your Bank Is Dead. Quick, Call The Hypnotist!

Your Bank Is Dead. Quick, Call The Hypnotist!

Gramps could go any minute, but banks only fail on Fridays, giving the FDIC carcass crew plenty of time to line up potential buyers, scrap outdated letterhead, and hire hypnotists to help bank employees remember vault codes…

Two More Banks Fail, Including The Largest Arizona-Based Bank

Two More Banks Fail, Including The Largest Arizona-Based Bank

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?!

Regulators Seize IndyMac In The Second Largest Bank Failure In U.S. History

Regulators Seize IndyMac In The Second Largest Bank Failure In U.S. History

Ever hear of IndyMac Bancorp? Well, it’s gone! Federal regulators seized the California bank spawned by Countrywide founder Angelo Mozilowhich, which had giddily doled out mortgages to lenders without requiring proof of income. Rather than blame the second largest bank failure in U.S. history on the subprime meltdown, the charmingly politicized regulators at the FDIC blamed the bank’s demise on Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY). Huh?