By Martin H. Bosworth
ConsumerAffairs.com
December 11, 2009
Republic Federal Bank of Miami, Florida, had the unlucky distinction of being the 131st bank to be seized by federal regulators this year, at a cost to taxpayers of $126 million.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) shuttered the bank, appointing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) its receiver. The FDIC brokered a deal with 1st United Bank of Boca Raton, Florida, to assume the assets of Republic Federal Bank.
All four branches of Republic Federal Bank will reopen Monday as branches of 1st United. Customers should experience no interruption in service and all transactions should proceed as normal, the agency said.
According to the FDIC, Republic Federal Bank, N.A. had total assets of approximately $433.0 million and total deposits of approximately $352.7 million. 1st United Bank will pay the FDIC a premium of 1.2 percent to assume all of the deposits of Republic Federal Bank.
In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, 1st United Bank agreed to purchase $267.1 million of the failed bank's assets.
The failure of Republic Federal Bank highlights the continuing problem of small and mid-size lenders closing across the country, putting enormous strains on the FDIC's deposit insurance fund, and causing further drags on the economic recovery.
FDIC chairwoman Sheila Bair has said she expects the bank failures to continue well into 2010.
