Seven banks were seized in seven US states, marking the second year in a row in which at least 100 lenders have collapsed. Banks with total deposits of about $2 billion were shut down yesterday, according to statements on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. website. The failures cost the FDIC's deposit- insurance fund $431 million. The US bank-failure count this year rose to 103. Iberiabank Corp., based in Lafayette, Louisiana, acquired Lantana, Florida-based Sterling Bank in its fifth FDIC-assisted transaction. Iberiabank picks up six branches and about $372 million in deposits. The FDIC included 775 banks with $431 billion in assets on the confidential list of problem lenders as of March 31, an increase from 702 banks with $402.8 billion at the end of the fourth quarter. FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair has said 2010 failures will surpass last year's total of 140. Banks were also closed in Georgia, South Carolina, Kansas, Minnesota, Nevada and Oregon, the FDIC said. Renasant Bank, of Tupelo, Mississippi, paid a 1 percent premium to take on the deposits at Crescent Bank & Trust Co. in Jasper, Georgia, the FDIC said. Renasant picked up “essentially” all of the more than $1 billion in assets at Crescent, the agency said. South Valley Bank & Trust of Klamath Falls, Oregon, paid the FDIC a 1.05 percent premium to acquire the deposits of Cave Junction, Oregon's Home Valley Bank, which stood at about $230 million at the end of March, the FDIC said. Roundbank of Waseca, Minnesota, acquired New Prague, Minnesota-based Community Security Bank. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. of Columbia, South Carolina, acquired Williamsburg First National Bank of Kingstree, South Carolina. Las Vegas-based SouthwestUSA Bank and Thunder Bank of Sylvan Grove, Kansas, were also closed.
