A $2 billion Georgia bank with more than $900 million in construction-and-land-development loans failed and is expected to cost the government nearly $900 million. Financial institutions in Florida and California were also seized by regulators.
The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance said Friday that it took possession of Georgian Bank and handed it over to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as receiver. The seizure was made pursuant to the Official Code of Georgia, Section 7-1-150(a), which authorizes such actions when banks are either insolvent or operating in an unsound manner.
Georgian was established in November 2001, according to FDIC data. As of the end of June, 185 people worked at the company.
All of the Atlanta-based bank’s $2 billion in deposits as of July 24 were assumed by First Citizens Bank and Trust Company Inc. In addition, First Citizens acquired all of Georgian’s $2 billion in assets, including $123 million in home loans, $300 million in commercial mortgages and $925 million in construction-and-land-development loans.
In an unusual move, the FDIC agree to share in losses on all of the failed institution’s assets, pushing the estimated cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund to $892 million.
Also failing last week were Comunidades Federal Credit Union and Keys Federal Credit Union, which both were seized by the National Credit Union Administration.
Keys, based in Key West, Fla., had 13,000 depositors, also known as members, and $180 million in assets, according to the NCUA — which assumed control on Thursday. The agency’s goal is to safely continue credit union service to members.
“The decision to conserve a credit union enables the institution to continue normal operations with expert management in place correcting previous service and operational weaknesses,” the NCUA said.
Los Angeles-based Comunidades, which was closed Tuesday, had just 1,141 members and $0.7 million in assets. Water and Power Community Credit Union assumed a majority of its accounts.
Windsor Capital Mortgage Corp. was identified as a recently imploded mortgage lender by the Mortgage Lender Implode-O-Meter, which speculated that the firm has reinvented itself as Cobalt Financial Corp. The company has reportedly been reduced from an 1,800-originator company with $300 million in monthly production to an operation with just a handful of originators.
