US regulators closed The First National Bank of Florida on Friday, bringing the total number of closures this year to 71. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said deposits of the bank in Milton, Florida, were being assumed by CharterBank, a unit of Charter Financial Corp, in West Point, Georgia.
As of June 30, The First National Bank of Florida had about $296.8 million in total assets and $280.1 million in total deposits, the FDIC said. The eight branches of The First National Bank of Florida will reopen during their normal business hours beginning on Saturday as branches of CharterBank.
Of the 71 banks that have failed this year, 19 have been in Georgia and 11 have been in Florida. The FDIC expects the total number of failures this year to be below the 2010 level of 157 as the industry continues to rebound from the 2007-2009 financial crisis. This year's bank failures, however, illustrate the problems that continue to face small community banks, many of which are hard hit by the sluggish economy and their exposure to the commercial real estate market.