Five more US banks go belly up; 2009 tally at 69
01 Aug 2009
The number of US banks that have gone belly up went up to 69 this year, with the collapse of five more banks in New Jersey, Ohio, Florida, Oklahoma and Illinois. The closures come even as the country experiences the highest rates of unemployment in 26 years and the longest recession since the Great Depression.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was named the receiver of the five banks.
The seized banks, with total assets of $2.69 billion and deposits of $2.56 billion, will cost the FDIC's insurance fund about $911.7 million.
The collapse of banks has been fairly rapid since the financial crisis turned worse in September 2008, following the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, with watchdog bodies closing banks at the fastest pace in 17 years.
The closures have depleted the FDIC's deposit insurance fund by more than $14.4 billion since January, as the FDIC offers to share losses with buyers of assets from failed banks.
The FDIC insures deposits at 8,246 institutions with $13.5 trillion in assets and reimburses customers for deposits of up to $250,000 when a bank fails.
