Banks Shuttered In Fla., Ill., Md., Utah

IEVA M. AUGSTUMS

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Regulators on Friday shuttered banks in Florida, Illinois, Maryland and Utah, boosting to 26 the number of bank failures in the U.S. so far this year following the 140 brought down in 2009 by mounting loan defaults and the recession.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took over Sun American Bank, based in Boca Raton, Fla., with $535.7 million in assets and $443.5 million in deposits. Also seized were Bank of Illinois of Normal, Ill., with $211.7 million in assets and $198.5 million in deposits; Waterfield Bank in Germantown, Md., with $155.6 million in assets and $156.4 million in deposits; and Centennial Bank in Ogden, Utah, with $215.2 million in assets and $205.1 million in deposits.

First-Citizens Bank & Trust Co., based in Raleigh, N.C., agreed to assume the assets and deposits of Sun American Bank and to share losses with the FDIC on $433 million of the failed bank's loans and other assets. It was First-Citizens' fourth acquisition of assets of a failed bank since last July; the others were First Regional Bank of Los Angeles, Venture Bank of Lacey, Wash., and Temecula Valley Bank of Temecula, Calif.

Heartland Bank and Trust Co., based in Bloomington, Ill., is buying the assets and deposits of Bank of Illinois, and is sharing losses with the FDIC on $166.6 million in loans and other assets.

For Waterfield Bank, because no buyer was found, the FDIC set up a new savings institution that will operate until April 5 to allow customers access to their deposits and give them time to open accounts at other banks.

The FDIC was also unable to find a buyer for Centennial Bank, and it approved the payout of the institution's insured deposits. As a result, checks to the retail depositors for their insured funds will be mailed on Monday. Zions First National Bank in Salt Lake City agreed to accept the failed bank's direct deposits from the federal government, including Social Security and Veterans' payments.