Reuters and CNN reported on the 26th that Republic First Bank, a local bank, was closed and sold to another bank. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) said Pennsylvania-based Fulton Bank will acquire substantially all of the deposits and assets of Philadelphia-based Republic First Bank. Previously, Pennsylvania state financial authorities closed Republic First Bank.
The FDIC took merger and acquisition actions against this bank to protect depositors. The bank faced a crisis due to management difficulties, including withdrawing from the mortgage (home loan) business early last year due to rising costs and worsening profitability.
As of the end of January, the bank’s total assets were about $6 billion, and deposits were $4 billion. Republic First Bank was the first bank to fail in the U.S. this year, raising concerns about the soundness of local banks again.
In the first half of last year, three local banks, including Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank, went bankrupt, and in November of the same year, Citizens Bank of Iowa and others went bankrupt. Last month, international credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Global downgraded the rating outlook for five U.S. regional banks, including First Commonwealth Financial, from ‘stable’ to ‘negative’ due to concerns about commercial real estate (CRE) insolvency.