Bank failure list tops 45

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Local banks in Georgia, Minnesota and California were closed Friday by state regulators, bringing the total number of failed banks this year to 45, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

The financial crisis has taken a heavy toll on small banks across the nation as losses in the housing market mount and unemployment dents household wealth. Analysts expect the trend to continue even as larger banks stabilize and the overall economy begins to recover.

Community Bank of West Georgia, which operated one branch in Villa Rica and another in Kennesaw, had total assets of $199.4 million and total deposits of $182.5 million, according to the FDIC.

The failed bank had roughly $1.1 million in deposits that exceeded the FDIC's $250,000 insurance limit for individual accounts. However, this amount is expected to change as the agency obtains more information from uninsured customers, the FDIC said.

The FDIC will mail checks to insured depositors of the failed bank on Monday morning. Direct deposits from the federal government, such as Social Security and Veterans' payments, will be transferred to United Community Bank of Blairsville, Ga.

Georgia regulators also shuttered the four branches of Neighborhood Community Bank, which is based in Newnan.

The FDIC said CharterBank of West Point will assume all of the failed bank's $191.3 million deposits and the majority of its $221.6 million assets.

So far this year, nine banks in Georgia have failed.

In Minnesota, Horizon Bank of Pine City was closed and will be taken over by Stearns Bank, NA of St. Cloud. It was the first bank to fail in the Gopher State this year.

The failed bank, which operated two locations, had total assets of $87.6 million and total deposits of about $69.4 million. Stearns Bank paid a premium for all of Horizon Bank's deposits and agreed to acquire $84.4 million of its assets. The remaining assets will be sold by the FDIC later.

Meanwhile, the sole branch of Irvine, Calif.-based MetroPacific Bank was closed Friday and Sunwest Bank, of Tustin, Calif., agreed to assume all of its non-brokered deposits.

MetroPacific had total deposits of approximately $73 million. Sunwest Bank will purchase nearly all of the failed bank's $80 million worth of assets, the FDIC said.

The FDIC said it would pay about $6 million directly to brokers for deposits held in MetroPacific brokered accounts.

Later Friday, the FDIC said Mirae Bank of Los Angeles was closed. The bank's five offices will reopen Monday as branches of Wilshire State Bank. Mirae Bank had total assets of $456 million and total deposits of approximately $362 million.

Wilshire State Bank will buy about $449 million of the failed bank's assets. The FDIC will hold the remaining assets to dispose of later.

California has had six banks fail so far this year.

The FDIC said it entered a loss-share agreement with the acquiring banks for a portion of the failed banks' assets. The agreement is intended to maximize returns on the assets and minimize disruptions for loan customers, the FDIC said.

The total cost of Friday's bank failures to the FDIC is $264.2 million, bringing the total for this year to $11.94 billion. That compares with $17.6 billion in all of 2008.

The number of bank failures so far this year has already exceeded last year's total of 25, with an average of 7 failures per month.

Over the next 5 years, the FDIC expects roughly $70 billion in losses due to the failures of insured institutions.

The FDIC, which is funded primarily by fees paid by banks, insures individual deposits up to $250,000. The amount was increased from $100,000 late last year in response to concerns about the stability of the nation's banks.