Six more banks are closed by US regulators
MORE American banks failed over the weekend, bringing the total for the year to 130, which is the highest since 1992.
Of the six failed banks, the largest to be closed by regulators was Cleveland’s AmTrust Bank, whose 66 branches and $8bn (£4.9bn) in deposits will be assumed by New York Community Bank.
AmTrust is the fourth largest bank in the US to fold this year.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) almost closed AmTrust earlier in the year, but campaigning by Republican politicians and Cleveland’s Democrat mayor earned it a reprieve.
In the six months to the end of September, the bank made net losses of $418m, and its deposit base shrank by 17 per cent.
FDIC finally seized the bank last week with $12bn in assets.
The move comes days after AmTrust Bank’s parent company AmTrust Financial filed for bankruptcy, saying it had been hit by the downturn in the US housing and construction markets.
Three banks closed in Georgia, bringing the state’s total to 24, and banks also failed in Illinois and Virginia.