Bank and Thrift Failure Roundup

Last Friday's closing of First Centennial Bank of Redlands, Calif., was the third bank failure of 2009. There were 25 failures during 2008.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. spokesman David Barr said the agency's estimated cumulative losses to its deposit insurance fund from bank and thrift failures during 2008 was $15.6 billion, which included $8.9 billion from the failure of IndyMac Bank, back in July. While a year-end figure was not yet available, the FDIC's deposit insurance fund totaled $34.6 billion as of Sept. 30.

The following is a list of all the bank and thrift failures during 2008 and 2009:

Bank Failures Summary FDIC

Prey for Large Holding Companies

Of course, the most spectacular deal resulting from a bank closing happened in September, when JPMorgan Chase (JPM Quote) paid the FDIC $1.9 billion for virtually all of Washington Mutual, including uninsured deposits and loans. This saved depositors and the FDIC from any losses. Of course, it remains to be seen how much this purchase will come to haunt JPMorgan, which coveted the failed thrift's 2,244 branches.

Several large regional holding companies took advantage of the bank and thrift failures to expand their deposit footprints in specific areas, paying a small premium to the FDIC for the privilege. However, considering the dismal fourth quarter results for many, along with large drops in share prices during January for most, we may be seeing very few acquisitions by large players in the near future, unless the FDIC sweetens deals with generous loss-sharing agreements.

SunTrust (STI Quote), acquired the insured deposits and six branches of First Priority Bank of Bradenton, Fla., when it was shut down by state regulators in August. Atlanta-based SunTrust reported a fourth-quarter loss of $379 million and its shares returned a negative 49% year-to-date return through Wednesday's market close.