Five More Banks Fail - 39 So Far This Year

Add five more to the list of failed banks:

• Community Central Bank, Mount Clemens, MI
• The Park Avenue Bank, Valdosta, GA
• First Choice Community Bank, Dallas, GA
• Cortez Community Bank, Brooksville, FL
• First National Bank of Central Florida, Winter Park, FL

The closings bring the total for the year to 39. The failures drained $643.2 million from the FIDC deposit-insurance fund.

At the current rate, the number of closures for the year could reach 117. In 2010, there were a total of 160 banks that went into receivership, were merged with another financial institution, or closed their doors entirely.

Currently, there are over 800 banks and other financial organizations on the troubled list due to mortgages, derivatives, and bad investments.

Community Central Bank, Mount Clemens, Mich., was closed Friday by the Michigan Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation, which appointed the FDIC as receiver. The FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Talmer Bank & Trust, Troy, Michigan, formerly known as First Michigan Bank, to assume all of the deposits of Community Central Bank.

The four branches of Community Central Bank will reopen as branches of Talmer Bank & Trust. Depositors of Community Central Bank will automatically become depositors of Talmer Bank & Trust. Deposits will continue to be insured by the FDIC, so there is no need for customers to change their banking relationship in order to retain their deposit insurance coverage up to applicable limits. Customers of Community Central Bank should continue to use their existing branch until they receive notice from Talmer Bank & Trust that it has completed systems changes to allow other Talmer Bank & Trust branches to process their accounts as well.

First Choice Community Bank, Dallas, Ga., and The Park Avenue Bank, Valdosta, Ga., were closed by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance, which appointed the FDIC as receiver.

All 19 branches of the two closed banks will reopen during their normal business hours beginning Saturday as branches of Bank of the Ozarks, Little Rock, Ark. Depositors of the two failed banks will automatically become depositors of Bank of the Ozarks. Deposits will continue to be insured by the FDIC, so there is no need for customers to change their banking relationship in order to retain their deposit insurance coverage up to applicable limits. First Choice Community Bank had seven branches in Georgia; and The Park Avenue Bank had eleven branches in Georgia and one branch in Florida.

Customers of the two failed banks should continue to use their former branches until they receive notice from Bank of the Ozarks that it has completed systems changes to allow other branches of Bank of the Ozarks to process their accounts as well.

“We are considered one of the strongest and best capitalized community banks in the country,” Bank of the Ozarks Chairman and Chief Executive Officer George Gleason said today in a statement. “We have a long-term commitment to growing our customer base in our Georgia and Florida communities.”

First National Bank of Central Florida, Winter Park, Fla., was closed by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which appointed the FDIC as receiver. Cortez Community Bank, Brooksville, Fla, was closed by the Florida Office of Financial Regulation.

All eight branches of the two closed banks will reopen on Monday as branches of Florida Community Bank, a division of Premier American Bank, N.A., Miami. Depositors of the two failed banks will automatically become depositors of Florida Community Bank. Deposits will continue to be insured by the FDIC, so there is no need for customers to change their banking relationship in order to retain their deposit insurance coverage up to applicable limits. First National Bank of Central Florida had six branches; and Cortez Community Bank had two branches.

Customers of the two failed banks should continue to use their former branches until they receive notice from Premier American Bank, N.A. that it has completed systems changes to allow other branches of Premier American Bank, N.A. to process their accounts as well..