Texas Guaranty is the Latest Bank Casualty

On Friday, bank regulators closed Texas Guaranty Bank, the latest in a series of bankruptcies throughout the sector. The closure of Texas Guaranty brings the number of bank bankruptcies this year to 81.

Texas Guaranty Bank had assets of $12 billion and deposits from customers of $11.5 billion. Texas Guaranty’s banking activities will be taken over by the second largest Spanish bank, BBVA, through its American subsidiary BBVA Compass for an unspecified amount.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), which administers the deposit-guarantee plan in the U.S., insures deposits of customers up to $250,000 per account.

Last year, 25 banks were closed by the U.S. government, compared to only three in 2007. The largest U.S. bank failure this year was Colonial Bank which closed on August 14. Colonial had assets of $25 billion.