Another Bank Bites the Dust – So Who Will Be the Next Dominoes to Fall?

(The Economic Collapse Blog)—It appears that the people running our system have decided that it is time for a wave of consolidation in the banking industry.  A key program that was keeping U.S. banks afloat was allowed to expire last month, and everyone knew what that would mean.  On Friday, the FDIC quietly announced that Republic Bank had been seized and a sale to Fulton Bank had already been arranged.  Have you noticed that they often try to announce bad news like this on Friday?

By the time news of the failure of Republic Bank broke, many people had already started their weekends.  And the FDIC probably assumes that most people will have forgotten all about this by the time Monday morning rolls around.  But this was a big deal, and it is inevitable that more dominoes will soon start to fall.

At the time it was seized, Republic Bank had 32 branches in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York.  The following comes directly from the FDIC announcement that was issued on Friday…

Philadelphia-based Republic First Bank (doing business as Republic Bank) was closed today by the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect depositors, the FDIC entered into an agreement with Fulton Bank, National Association of Lancaster, Pennsylvania to assume substantially all of the deposits and purchase substantially all of the assets of Republic Bank.

Republic Bank’s 32 branches in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York will reopen as branches of Fulton Bank on Saturday (for branches with normal Saturday hours) or on Monday during normal business hours. This evening and over the weekend, depositors of Republic Bank can access their money by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards. Checks drawn on Republic Bank will continue to be processed and loan customers should continue to make their payments as usual.

I think that a pattern is emerging that we will likely continue to see for future bank failures. Before this seizure was even announced, an agreement had already been made for a larger bank to swallow up the assets of Republic Bank.

Of course taxpayers didn’t exactly get off scot-free in this deal.  According to the FDIC, this agreement is going to cost the Deposit Insurance Fund 667 million dollars…

As of January 31, 2024, Republic Bank had approximately $6 billion in total assets and $4 billion in total deposits. The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) related to the failure of Republic Bank will be $667 million. The FDIC determined that compared to other alternatives, Fulton Bank’s acquisition of Republic Bank is the least costly resolution for the DIF, an insurance fund created by Congress in 1933 and managed by the FDIC to protect the deposits at the nation’s banks.

If only a few banks fail this year, the Deposit Insurance Fund will be able to handle it.

But what is going to happen if dozens of banks start to fail?

It has been clear for a long time that Republic Bank was in trouble.

They were sitting on “$262 million of unrealized losses on bonds”, and Republic’s stock price had fallen all the way down to 1 cent…

The bank’s stock price has tumbled from just over $2 at the start of the year to about 1 cent on April 26, leaving it with a market capitalisation below $2 million. Its shares were delisted from the Nasdaq in August and now trade over the counter.

Moving forward, we will want to keep an eye on other banks that are currently on shaky ground.

For example, New York Community Bank would have completely collapsed already if a group of investors had not been convinced to pump a billion dollars into that troubled institution…

Recently, New York Community Bank saw wild swings in its stock price as customers began pulling their cash from the regional lender after it said it had identified “material weakness” in the company’s controls. The bank got a $1 billion equity investment lifeline from investors, including former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s firm, Liberty Strategic Capital, in March.

Of course it isn’t just New York Community Bank that is treading on thin ice.

Kevin O’Leary of Shark Tank fame is convinced that thousands of U.S. banks will fail during the years ahead…

In the next three to five years, thousands more regional institutions will fail. That’s why I don’t have a dime saved or invested in a single one.

One of the primary reasons why so many banks are on the brink of disaster is because we are facing a commercial real estate collapse of historic proportions.

In St. Louis, the tallest office building recently sold for 98 percent less than what it sold for in 2006…

Take, St Louis’s largest office building – its 44-story AT&T tower – for example. In 2006 this prime real estate sold for $205 million.

But that same now vacant skyscraper recently sold for around $3.5 million – a shocking 98 percent drop in value in less than two decades, the outlet reported.

The Railway Exchange Building, once the crown jewel of downtown St. Louis with its Famous Barr department store and sprawling offices, is also now an empty relic with peeling paint.

All over the nation, commercial real estate property values have fallen dramatically, and our small and mid-size banks are sitting on mountains of commercial real estate loans.

This story is not going to end well, and anyone that suggests otherwise is simply being delusional.

Meanwhile, more signs continue to emerge that the overall economy is rapidly heading in the wrong direction.

For example, Walmart just announced that it is closing two more stores…

Walmart is shutting another two stores next month – bringing the total closures announced this year to eight.

Bosses said the two stores – in California and Wisconsin – were not making enough money.

Walmart, which has already shut six in 2024, is among several major retailers to announce closures.

If bright economic times were ahead, Walmart wouldn’t be shutting stores down.

Just like everyone else, they can see what is coming.

Of course Joe Biden and his minions insist that everything is just great.

They are telling us that the economy is booming and that the unemployment rate is low.

But that is not the truth.

The Ludwig Institute For Shared Economic Prosperity analyzes the data provided by the federal government in order to calculate a “true rate of unemployment”…

Using data compiled by the federal government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, the True Rate of Unemployment tracks the percentage of the U.S. labor force that does not have a full-time job (35+ hours a week) but wants one, has no job, or does not earn a living wage, conservatively pegged at $25,000 annually before taxes.

According to them, instead of an unemployment rate of “3.8 percent”, the true rate of unemployment is actually 24.2 percent.

Right now, there are countless people that continue to remain unemployed even though they are desperate to find a job.

Sadly, the employment market is only going to get tighter in the months ahead.

I am entirely convinced that global events will become extremely chaotic during the second half of this year, and that is going to have a devastating impact on our economy.

So whatever you need to do, I would encourage you to do it with haste.

Because the pace of events is not going to slow down for anyone, and it is much later than most people think that it is.

Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.