99th Bank Failure This Year

San Joaquin Bank in Bakersfield, California is the 99th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the tenth in California. The last FDIC-insured institution closed in the state was Affinity Bank, Ventura, on August 28, 2009.

On Oct. 16, the bank was closed by the California Department of Financial Institutions, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Citizens Business Bank, Ontario, California, to assume all of the deposits of San Joaquin Bank.

The five branches of San Joaquin Bank will reopen on Monday as branches of Citizens Business Bank. Depositors of San Joaquin Bank will automatically become depositors of Citizens Business Bank. Deposits will continue to be insured by the FDIC, so there is no need for customers to change their banking relationship to retain their deposit insurance coverage.

As of September 29, 2009, San Joaquin Bank had total assets of $775 million and total deposits of approximately $631 million. Citizens Business Bank did not pay the FDIC a premium for the deposits of San Joaquin Bank. In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, Citizens Business Bank agreed to purchase essentially all of the assets.

The FDIC and Citizens Business Bank entered into a loss-share transaction on approximately $683 million of San Joaquin Bank's assets. Citizens Business Bank will share in the losses on the asset pools covered under the loss-share agreement. The loss-share arrangement is projected to maximize returns on the assets covered by keeping them in the private sector. The agreement also is expected to minimize disruptions for loan customers.

The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $103 million. Citizens Business Bank's acquisition of all the deposits was the "least costly" resolution for the FDIC's DIF compared to alternatives.