Commerce Bank of Southwest Florida Fails, Becomes 123 Bank to Close in 2009

The FDIC announced this afternoon that Commerce Bank of Southwest Florida, based in Fort Myers, failed today, becoming the 12th bank to fail in Florida this year, and the 123rd bank to fail in the US in 2009.

Florida 4th in Bank Failures

This latest failure announcement by the FDIC means that Florida and Georgia now have 33 bank failures between them, after two Floridian banks, Orion Bank and Century Bank, both failed on November 13th. Florida has 3 fewer failures than California, 7 fewer failures than Illinois, and 9 fewer than Georgia, the state with the most bank failures by far this year.

“Assuming Institution”

The failed assets and deposits from Commerce Bank of Southwest Florida will be transferred to Central Bank of Stillwater, MN over the weekend. The FDIC entered into the deal with Central Bank, saying that it was the “least costly option” for the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF). The single branch of Commerce Bank of Southwest Florida will reopen on Monday as a Central Bank branch. Depositors will be able to access their funds as usual over the weekend, and the FDIC has assured them that all of their deposits up the $250,000 limit are insured.