The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) says Republic First Bank has been closed by Pennsylvania regulators

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Republic First Bank has been shut down by Pennsylvania regulators, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Friday, in what the FDIC said was the first U.S. bank failure this year.

“Philadelphia-based Republic First Bank (doing business as Republic Bank) was shut down today by the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect depositors, the FDIC ) Agreement with Fulton Bank and National Association of Lancaster, Pennsylvania to assume all of the deposits and purchase substantially all of the assets of Republic Bank. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said in a statement.

The FDIC said in its statement that the bank had about $6 billion in total assets and $4 billion in total deposits at the end of January.

This makes the Republic Bank (FRBK) is much smaller than the regional bank failure that rocked the financial world last year. Silicon Valley Bank, for example, About $209 billion by the end of 2022; It collapsed in March 2023.

The FDIC said the former bank's “32 branches in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York will reopen as Fulton Bank branches on Saturday (for branches with regular Saturday business hours) or Monday during regular business hours.”

Those with deposits at Republic Bank will become depositors at Fulton Bank, the FDIC said. The agency's deposit insurance covers up to $250,000 per depositor.

Bloomberg News I reported earlier in the week The FDIC has contacted buyers for the regional lender.

Republic Bank is the first bank to fail in the United States since Citizens Bank in Sac City, Iowa, in November 2023, the FDIC said.

Republic First Bank is a separate entity from First Republic Bank, a San Francisco-based commercial bank that closed in May 2023. The majority of the bank's assets were sold to JPMorgan Chase.

The failure of the Philadelphia-based bank comes Troubled time For regional banks, high interest rates have hurt the credit-dependent industry.

Sparked Silicon Valley bank collapse Wider crisis last year. The failure of Signature Bank followed days later, and the failure of First Republic Bank a few weeks after that. In total, there were five failed banks in 2023, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

Recently, New York Community Bank saw sharp fluctuations in its stock price as customers began withdrawing their money from the regional bank after it said it… “Material vulnerability” identified. In company controls. The bank got a billion dollars The lifeblood of stock investing From investors, including former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's firm, Liberty Strategic Capital, in March.

This story has been updated.