More Banks Ceased

Regulators closed two banks in Missouri and one in Kansas, raising the total number of bank failures in 2010 to 132, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. In Missouri, the state division of finance closed Premier Bank of Jefferson City, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. arranged for its nine branches to be reopened Saturday by Providence Bank in Columbia. Under a loss-sharing agreement with the FDIC, Providence Bank agreed to purchase $657.9 million of Premier's $1.18 billion in assets and assume all of the failed bank's $1.03 billion in total deposits, except for certain brokered deposits. The FDIC will retain the balance of the Premier assets for later disposition. The loss-sharing agreement covers $408.7 million of Premier's assets, and the shutdown will cost the FDIC's insurance fund an estimated $406.9 million. The Missouri finance division also closed WestBridge Bank & Trust Co. in Chesterfield, and the FDIC arranged for Midland States Bank in Effingham, Ill., to assume its $72.5 million in deposits. Twenty-five banks have been seized in Florida alone this year, tops in the nation.