Bank closures are usually symptomatic of the economy. Last Thursday, the number of banks subject to FDIC closure stood at 99. Since FDIC take-overs are usually Friday afternoon, the question was “Would the FDIC would reach one hundred this weekend?”
They smashed through the century mark, closing seven banks over the weekend:
- First DuPage Bank, Westmont, IL
- Riverview Community Bank, Otsego, MN
- Bank of Elmwood, Racine, WI
- Hillcrest Bank Florida, Naples, FL
- Flagship National Bank, Bradenton, FL
- American United Bank, Lawrenceville, GA
- Partners Bank, Naples, FL
This rate of closure is bad, but not the worst.
The most failures occurred in 1989 when 534 banks and savings and loans were closed, which is an average of more than 10 per week. Although there were twice as many insured institutions in 1989: 16,574 in 1898 versus about 8,200 today.
The last time more than 100 FDIC-insured institutions were closed was in 1992, when 181 failed. The first time more than 100 FDIC-insured institutions failed in a year was 1982, when 119 were closed. From 1984 through 1992, more than 100 institutions were closed each year.
This is a lit more interesting when you look at it visually: (from Calculated Risk)
References:
- FDIC’s 100th Bank Failure Fact Sheet
- Failed Bank List from the FDIC