Hometown National Bank, Longview, WA, Closed by Regulators

After almost three months since the last bank closing regulators closed two banks on the first Friday of October.  The first bank failure occurred when The Bank of Georgia, Peachtree, GA, was closed, followed shortly thereafter by the failure of the Hometown National Bank, Longview, Washington. In order to protect depositors the FDIC sold the failed Hometown National […]

The Amazing Decline in the Number of Banks Has Resulted in Big Bank Domination

The number of banks operating in the United States has been in an amazing decline for the past 25 years.  Many institutions disappeared after going bust during the savings and loan crisis of the early 1990’s while hundreds more collapsed during the financial panic and banking crisis that started in 2008. Since 2008 a total […]

Edgebrook Bank, IL, Closed by Regulators – Fifth Bank Failure of 2015

After over a two month hiatus with no bank closings, regulators swooped in to close the Edgebrook Bank, Chicago, Illinois.  The last banking failure occurred on February 28, 2015 when regulators closed the Doral Bank, San Juan, Puerto Rico. After the Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation closed Edgebrook Bank, the FDIC was appointed […]

Bank Failures Decline But Still Above Pre Banking Crisis Levels

Prior to the banking crisis that began in 2008 bank failures had been a rare occurrence with only 32 banking failures between 2000 to 2007. During 2008 the wheels began to fall off the financial system and bank failures increased dramatically as loan defaults soared. As the banking crisis worsened bank failures reached a peak […]

Number of Problem Banks Declines for 15th Consecutive Quarter

According to the latest FDIC Quarterly Banking Profile the number of problem banks continued to decline for the quarter ending December 31, 2014. After reaching a peak of 888 at the end of the first quarter of 2011 the number of problem banks has declined for 15 consecutive quarters.  The number of problem banks is […]

Bank Failures Fall to Seven Year Low

During the financial crisis the number of banking failures swelled to a peak failure year during 2010 when a total of 157 banking institutions failed. The number of bank failures has declined every year since then and the number of banks failures during 2014 has reached a seven year low. Is the current low number […]

Five Years After the Banking Crisis, Hundreds of Problem Banks Still Struggle

While many banks have completely recovered from the banking and financial crises of over six years ago, the number of banks classified as “Problem Banks” by the FDIC has remained stubbornly high. A milestone of sorts was reached recently when, after five years, the number of banks on the FDIC’s Problem Bank List finally declined […]

The Freedom State Bank, Freedom, OK, Closed by Regulators

Most people would probably assume that a bank that can stay in business for almost one hundred years would be The Rock of Gibraltar from a financial standpoint.  This was not the case today as state regulators closed 95 year old The Freedom State Bank located in Freedom, Oklahoma. Founded in 1919 The Freedom State […]

FDIC Reveals That Over 400 Banks Remain on the Problem Bank List

The recently released Quarterly Banking Profile from the FDIC reveals that over 400 banks remain on the Problem Bank List more than six years after the start of the biggest banking crisis since the 1930s. As of March 31, 2014, the FDIC’s confidential Problem Bank List contains the names of 411 banking institutions that have […]

What a Collapsed Banking System Looks Like

In the 1930’s the collapse of the banking system propelled the world into an economic collapse.  Depositors lost their savings, confidence was shattered, companies starved for capital went out of business overnight, borrowers defaulted en masse and unemployment soared.  A collapsed banking system guarantees an instant economic depression. A mere generation later, the world is […]