The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation announced Friday that U.S. regulators have agreed to seize Republic First Bancorp and sell it to Fulton Bank, raising the bar for challenges facing regional banks a year after the failures of three of its peers. highlighted.
The Philadelphia-based bank abandoned financing talks with a group of investors and was seized by the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities.
The FDIC, which was appointed receiver, said Fulton Bank, a division of Fulton Financial, would take over substantially all deposits and buy all of Republic Bank’s assets to “protect depositors.”
As of January 31, 2024, Republic Bank had total assets of approximately $6 billion and total deposits of $4 billion. The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund related to Republic Bank’s failure will be $667 million.
The bank’s 32 branches in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York will reopen as Fulton Bank branches during business hours on Saturday or Monday.
The decision marks the latest regional bank failure, following the unexpected failures of three financial institutions: Silicon Valley and Signature in March 2023 and First Republic in May.
Republic Bank had signed a deal late last year with a group of investors, including veteran businessman George Norcross and prominent lawyer Philip Norcross, but the deal was terminated in February.
After the deal collapsed, the FDIC resumed efforts to seize and sell the bank, the newspaper said. wall street journalfirst reported this news.
Republic Bank, reeling from pressure from high costs and an inability to improve profitability, cut jobs and exited mortgage origination business in early 2023.
The bank’s stock price has fallen from just over $2 at the start of the year to about 1 cent on Friday, leaving its market capitalization below $2 million.
The company’s stock was delisted from the Nasdaq in August and is currently traded over the counter.
