Bank Failures Surge 25% in One Week

George Washington Savings Bank in Orlando Park, Ill., had $412.8 million in assets and $397 million deposits in four branches. Its assets and deposits are being taken over by FirstMerit Bank of Akron, Ohio, and it will cost the federal insurance fund $141.4 million. FirstMerit's loss-sharing agreement with the FDIC covers assets of $324.2 million.

Banks in Florida and Texas were also seized, though they were much smaller than George Washington Savings Bank and La Jolla Bank and will not have as substantial an impact on the federal insurance fund. Florida has one of the highest concentration of bank failures, due largely to the real estate market and mortgages that turned south quickly.

Marco Community Bank, on Florida's Marco Island, a wealthy community near Naples, was taken over by Mutual of Omaha Bank, a division of insurance company Mutual of Omaha. It had assets of $119.6 million and $117.1 million in deposits and will cost the fund $38.1 million. Mutual of Omaha Bank will share loses on $104.8 million with the FDIC. La Coste National Bank, which had only one branch in La Coste, Texas, is being taken over by Community National Bank of Hondo, Texas. La Coste had assets of $53.9 million, deposits of $49.3 million and should only cost the insurance fund $3.7 million.

Last year's 140 bank failures was the highest annual result since 1992 and cost the insurance fund more than $30 billion. Over the next four years, the impact of the financial crisis on the U.S. banking system could carry a price tag of more than $100 million. For 2010 through 2012, the banks are expected to prepay FDIC insurance premiums of around $45 billion, which should replenish the insurance fund.