Reuters reported that US bank regulators closed 3 banks more, bringing the number of failures so far this year to 72 as the weakened economy takes its toll on the financial services sector. The closures were:

1. First State, which had USD 463 million in assets and USD 387 million in deposits. The failure is expected to cost the deposit insurance fund an estimated USD 116 million.

2. Community National Bank, which had USD 97 million in assets and USD 93 million in deposits. The failure is expected to cost the deposit insurance fund an estimated USD 24 million.

3. Community First Bank, which had USD 209 million in assets and USD 182 million in deposits. The failure is expected to cost the deposit insurance fund USD 45 million.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation estimated the 3 closures would cost its deposit fund a total of about USD 185 million. In 2008, 25 US banks were seized by officials, up from only 3 in 2007.

During the current financial crisis, Seattle based lender Washington Mutual became the biggest bank to fail in US history. It was closed in September 2008 while suffering from losses from soured mortgages and liquidity problems.

FDIC also has running a tally of problem banks that its examiners closely monitor. At the end of the first quarter, 305 undisclosed institutions were on that list.

(Sourced from www.reuters.com)