US authorities closed four banks on Friday, bringing the total number of bank closures in 2011 to 55. The first two banks to close on Friday night were in Georgia, followed by one in Florida and one bank in Arizona, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said.
In Georgia on Friday, the Ameris Bank in Moultrie, Georgia acquired the banking operations of High Trust Bank in Stockbridge and One Georgia Bank in Atlanta. As of March 31, High Trust had assets of $192.5 million and Georgia Bank had assets totalling $186.3 million.
In Florida, First Peoples Bank in Port Saint Lucie was closed by regulators. Its six branches will be acquired by the Premier American Bank, National Association, of Miami. First Peoples Bank had about $228.3 million in assets as of the end of March. Finally in Arizona, regulators shuttered Summit Bank of Prescott and entered into an agreement with the Foothills Bank in Yuma to assume its deposits.
Summit Bank had $72 million in total assets as of March 31. The pace of failures this year is slowing as the banking industry recovers from the 2007-2009 financial crisis. The FDIC expects the total number of failures this year to be less than in 2010. In 2010 157 banks failed following 140 failures in 2009. Most of the banks that have failed this year have had less than $1 billion in assets as community banks continue to struggle with the weak economy and many are facing problems related to their exposure to the commercial real estate market.