Republic First Bank closes, first FDIC-insured bank to fail in 2024
Republic Bank closed by FDIC, branches will be taken over by Fulton Bank
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PHILADELPHIA (CBS/AP) — Philadelphia-based Republic First Bank was closed by state regulators Friday night and its assets were given to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., FDIC announced in a news release.
Republic Bank’s assets are now being taken over by Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based Fulton Bank effective immediately. Fulton is also assuming all deposits.
Republic First Bank is a regional lender operating in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. The company did business as Republic Bank and had roughly $6 billion in assets and $4 billion in deposits as of Jan. 31.
failure — Citizens Bank, based in Sac City, Iowa — was in November 2023.
In a strong economy, an average of only four or five banks close each year.
Rising interest rates and falling commercial real estate values, especially for office buildings grappling with surging vacancy rates following the pandemic, have heightened the financial risks for many regional and community banks. Outstanding loans backed by properties that have lost value make them a challenge to refinance.
Last month, an investor group including Steven Mnuchin, who served as U.S. Treasury secretary during the Trump administration, agreed to pump more than $1 billion to rescue New York Community Bancorp, which has been hammered by weakness in commercial real estate and growing pains resulting from its buyout of a distressed bank.
How to contact the FDIC and Fulton Bank
The FDIC says customers with questions about the acquisition can contact the FDIC at 1-877-467-0178.
The call center is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET on Saturday and from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on days afterward.
Source: cbsnews.com