Small Florida Bank Fails

FORT MEYERS, Fla. (TheStreet) -- Florida regulators closed Commerce Bank of Southwest Florida Friday, bringing the number of failed U.S. banks and thrifts this year to 124.

The Florida Office of Financial Regulation took over the institution after the close of business Friday and appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. receiver. The FDIC arranged for Central Bank of Stillwater, Minn. to assume all of the failed bank's deposits and most of its $80 million in assets, with the agency agreeing to share in losses on $61 million in acquired assets.

Established in September 2005, Commerce Bank of Southwest Florida focused on commercial real estate and construction lending at the tail end of Florida's real estate boom. With loan quality rapidly declining over the past year and a half, the bank received a cease-and-desist order from the FDIC in July that required the bank to raise capital and "retain qualified management," among other things.

By the end of the third quarter, the bank's capital was completely wiped out, and Commerce was included in TheStreet.com's list of undercapitalized banks and thrifts. Commerce Bank of Southwest Florida had been assigned an E-minus (Very Weak) financial strength rating by TheStreet.com Ratings in March.

Commerce Bank's sole office was set to reopen Monday as a branch of Central Bank, and the FDIC estimated that the cost to its insurance fund would be $23.6 million.

Ongoing Bank Failure Coverage

All previous bank and thrift failures for 2008 and 2009 are detailed in TheStreet.com's interactive bank failure map:

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