Fdic, Bank Failures | featured news

Bank earnings rose over the summer to their highest level in more than four years, while the number of troubled banks fell for the second straight quarter, federal regulators reported Tuesday.

Regulators closed Public Savings Bank of Huntingdon Valley, Pa., on Thursday, boosting to 65 the number of U.S. bank failures this year.

The FDIC said two banks failed, McIntosh State Bank in Georgia and First Commercial Bank of Tampa Bay in Florida, to bring the tally of closures so far this year to 47.

The FDIC is close to settling a lawsuit that accused former Washington Mutual executives of taking gambles that sparked the thrift's 2008 collapse.

Regulators closed six more banks around the country, marking the second consecutive year that more than 100 financial institutions have collapsed.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said state regulators closed Access Bank of Champlin, Minn., and the Bank of Bonifay in Bonifay, Fla., bringing to 66 the number of U.S. banks that have failed this year.

The closures of Statewide Bank in Louisiana and Florida's Old Southern Bank brought the number of bank failures this year to 30, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Federal Insurance Deposit Corporation officials said that banks that run the risk of collapse rose to 702 at the end of 2009 and said they expected the industry to remain under stress.

Banks in six U.S. states were closed Friday, bringing the total number of failed banks this year to 140, at a cost of over $1 billion to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

The FDIC said the number of distressed banks in the U.S. rose to the highest level in 16 years, and the insurance fund to protect depositors swung to a negative balance.