Another bank goes bye-bye

from The Bradenton (Fla.) Herald:



Regulators shut down First Priority


By BRIAN NEILL Herald Staff Writer

BRADENTON -- Limping along on a mere $1.5 million in total equity capital, and with millions of dollars in non-performing loans, First Priority Bank of Bradenton was shut down by regulators on Friday.

First Priority is the first bank in the state to fail this year as financial institutions throughout the country get slammed by the housing and credit crisis.

SunTrust will be assuming all insured deposits which will be available to customers immediately, according to the FDIC. Six First Priority locations in Manatee and Sarasota counties will reopen during regular business hours Monday.

The Bradenton-based bank, established in December of 2003, had lost $12.4 million this year - $9.4 million in the second quarter alone - and had nearly $43 million in non-performing loans on its books, according to an earnings report it filed with regulators on Thursday.

In June, the FDIC issued First Priority a directive to raise capital to a level of "adequately capitalized" within 30 days, according to a document made public Friday.

Its Tier 1 Capital Ratio at the second quarter was a mere .7 percent, a fraction of the 4 percent regulators require for the bank to be considered "adequately capitalized."


http://www.bradenton.com/news/local/story/779769.html

this is the tip of the iceberg. One of the top 5 banks in the nation is struggling right now, lost nearly $9 billion last quarter, and is desperately trying to stop people from withdrawing their money, down to enormous fees to close accounts. When they fail, it's all over.

We need to do something about this, and FAST.

"First Priority is the first bank in the state to fail this year." Astute readers will recognize that neither the reporter nor his newspaper expect it to be the last bank in the state to fail this year.